


Recovering Romance

by Arius_LaVari



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping, Missing Persons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-03-28 23:46:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 43,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3874405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arius_LaVari/pseuds/Arius_LaVari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just a normal morning for two particular Dragon Slayers...well it should have been anyway, but some terrifying nightmares wake the two up from a dead sleep and they better prepare for hell...this isn't going to be a good day at all is it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Missing

Gajeel Redfox's day began the same as every other in his little home in town, he woke up, got Pantherlily to get up; after much fighting with the little black exceed, damn he was a tough little thing, not as tough as that little thing though...damn it, this is an issue too isn't it? When did he start waking up thinking about that thing? There's a grumbled sigh as his subconscious spoke into his head, "Something bad is gonna happen to that thing...you should check on that." How could he not check on it now? There was another sigh as he scooped up the still drowsy exceed and took off out the door. Now normally he would head straight for the guild, but that thing always headed toward's the blondie's house, he knew where that was because it was covered in Salamander's scent. Why didn't that thick headed fire mage...just take that blondie? Was he really that dense? How many times has he sighed within the span of only being awake for half an hour, did this one make four?

"Gajeel, are you okay?" Lily asked as the black exceed finally woke up and heard the iron shadow dragon sighing almost continuously at this point, "Are you worried about something?"

The red eyed man just glared at the path in front of him as he answered his cat-like partner, "I've got a bad taste in my mouth..." Is all the response Lily gets before he picks up his pace and begins to walk faster, damn near running into it as it came skipping down the path to blondie's pad. 

"Oh! Gajeel! Good morning and you too Lily!" The bluenette spoke cheerfully as she ran into the much taller man and grinned at him a stabbing bolt of guilt hitting him in the gut at how easily she smiled at him. "What are you doing in town?"

He greeted her as he normally did; well not normally actually, he patted her head and actually answered her, relief making him careless, " Morning Shrimp. You oughta watch where yer walkin' or someone's gonna walk off with ya one'a these days." There it was, the source of his worry and it had smiled at him all pleasantly and everything, why had he been worried? No reason, just paranoia. He began walking off without answering the short bluenette's question though he raised his hand as if to say 'see ya at the guild' promptly earning a giggle from it. Her...not it, Levy McGarden the one thing on his mind lately and he didn't know why, that bothered him so much, he had no right, none at all. Master Makarov would definitely kill him if he found out about these feelings...feelings? Ah! The black haired man rustled his own hair up panicking, he had no feelings for it, none at all! He was paranoid for no reason at all!

"Hey! Gajeel! What's the matter with you? Seriously man?" an icy voice reached the Slayer's ears and he looked up to see Gray staring at him as if he was a nut. The look of stupidity the Ice Make wizard gave him annoyed the dragon, made him wanna give the guy a good pummeling, but it was too early in the morning for that, now if Salamander bothered him...that would be a fight.

"What are you goin' on about, ya freaky ice stripper?" He said with a roll of his eyes before he kept walking even as Gray started to follow him; well I guess it wasn't that ice weirdo following him but that he was headed to the guild as well. Salamander couldn't be far behind...unless he stayed with the blondie. 'Go back...' His heart whispered it suddenly forcing him to frown even more deeply than usual.

"I just saw you wringing your brain like you were worried 'bout somethin' so I thought I'd ask. Nothing's happened in town or anything like that has it?" The ice man asked and Gajeel sighed, he didn't really feel like chatting with this idiot but he would do it anyway.

"Nothing's happened, I'm just zoned out, don't worry about it ice stripper. I'm goin' to try and find a job..." He said it as he pushed the door open to the guild and spotted Salamander frowning off to the side, he had gotten here early...That made the iron shadow dragon suspicious but he didn't say anything to the pink haired mage, instead opting to ignore him for now.

Without looking at the spike headed black haired man, Natsu; or Salamander in the case of Gajeel Redfox; asked the ice man a question, "Hey you didn't happen to see Luce headed up this way did you?"

"No man, why are you wondering about it?"

"I just wanted to know, there's no problem in that, she's my team mate after all." The fire dragon slayer ignored Gray's rude way of talking for once; okay Gajeel immediately realized something was off today...but what? What was today? Why was it special? Why had he woke up from a nightmare this morning? There were too many questions and no answers, that alone made the dragon nervous.

Growling under his breath he sits down and taps his foot in an annoyed manner as he munches on a piece of iron that he keeps in a pouch by his side; it tasted awful, what the hell? Iron never tasted awful to him! Was he really that...worried? At the same time that Gajeel had taken a bite of his iron, Natsu had taken a bite of some fire and both of them said the same exact thing at the same time, "I've got a bad taste in my mouth..." Glancing at each other; in that exact moment and thankfully not in anyway about to fight each other, they go wide eyed and both of the men take off out of the guild before anyone can question their attitudes anymore. Something was wrong...very, very wrong! His gut was wrenching as if it wanted to tear open from the inside as worry consumed him. Levy! His thoughts focused on that and he followed her scent, all the way back to Lucy's pad...which was torn to shreds. Broken things, the land lady unconscious, torn curtains, and worst of all...a light pen with glasses and golden keys laid in on the floor in the middle of all the chaos. Where were they? Where were Levy and Lucy!?

The land lady's eyes opened, just barely, and she coughed staring intently at the two slayers that had walked into the chaos. "Go...now...those poor girls...they were just....taken..." Back to her unconscious state the two men were in a tizzy now and began sniffing all over the place, working together instead of fighting for once.

They followed their scents to the edge of the forest east of Magnolia and then they had lost the scents somehow. "Gajeel...I want to keep looking around here but someone has to tell the guild what happened. We'll have a higher chance of finding them if we're all together!" Somehow...the iron shadow dragon listened to Natsu and ran off, bolting back to the guild as fast as his high speed and stamina could carry him. 

He burst into the guild, getting questioning looks from everyone, including Lily and Master Makarov, that's when he blurted it out, "Levy and Lucy are missing! They made Lucy drop her keys and the Shrimp doesn't have her light pen or glasses either!" The guild rose into action immediately, Jet and Droy ran as fast as they could; Jet being much faster he would arrive and find Natsu searching hopelessly around for the scent of either of the women in vain. They had nothing...no clues, no hints, just...a forest. They ran into the forest in groups, organized by a calm; but still obviously worried Erza and a very angry looking Makarov.

They searched and searched...for hours and nothing, not even Jet could find anything and now everyone was worrying, fearing the worst they set up search parties that would stay up all into the night. Among them were Gajeel and Natsu, who had been uncomfortable and worried before it even happened; after they sat down for a minute; more like ten seconds; they'd mentioned their dreams, and both had similar nightmares. Levy just disappearing for no reason, Lucy disappearing for no reason; something had been trying to tell them that their women...wait their women? No, no don't think like that. Their team mates had been in danger, not just team mates but friends. Ha...Gajeel couldn't convince himself that he thought much of the bookworm as a team mate...he did though and didn't say anything about it. She was gone right now and he needed to find her, that was all that mattered.

It did bring to mind the question of why Natsu and Gajeel had been so aware of the danger present to the two women but...had said or done nothing. Maybe they thought it was paranoia; of course they would...I mean who would kidnap any Fairies from Fairy Tail in Magnolia, the guild's home base. Who could have taken them though? Raven Tail? No...definitely not, they had been at the tournament and they'd been disbanded after the tournament. Sighing the black haired man was racking his brain as he searched for any sign of Levy or Lucy, if they could find one they could find the second one. So far...it wasn't getting them anywhere they were missing.


	2. Chapter 1 - Wreck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How have the boys handled the women being gone for nearly a month now?

Natsu was a wreck, Gajeel was a damn wreck...Gray, Erza, Happy, the entire guild looked exhausted, Jet and Droy hadn't shown up for several days now, dead set on finding Levy or Lucy, either one would surely lead to the other, but no luck. Gajeel had been so worried he hadn't eaten or slept this entire month and it was only because of a few members floating around trying to support everyone else that the guild was even still fuctional at this point. Levy and Lucy had been gone for a month as of today, exactly today thirty days ago...Natsu could have saved Lucy and Levy; especially Lucy, right now though he was feeling weak, he needed to eat something, but everything tasted like ash in his mouth. He was too worried, he even had a headache that wasn't letting up. He figured Gajeel was in the same situation because he had been just as banged up over the two missing as the fire mage had been; these two...the strong Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail could barely keep their eyes open for more than a minute, looked like total trash, felt like trash, and all because they could have saved the two girls before they'd been missing this long.

They didn't quite realize how much light those two brought until they had gone missing and nothing was normal...they were all about to give up. Sighing in disappointment the raven haired dragon slayer ate some of his iron, forcing it down; it tasted awful still but he had to keep some strength up. He wasn't about to just give up, not until...He stopped the thought dead cold in it's tracks. No, don't think like that, right? There's no way that could have happened.

"Natsu..." It was the first time ever that he didn't call him 'Salamander' as per usual. "I think we should expand out our search, travel around and see what we can find. They have to be somewhere right?" Gajeel's red eyes were hazy and unfocused, despite the determination in his chest, they weren't going to just move on. There was no way, besides that Natsu had Lucy's keys which she would want back when they found them; he clung to those keys like they were a life line sometimes, it was sort of sad to see, but well he wasn't one to talk he hadn't given up the bookworm's glasses or light pen either. They both had a problem with letting this go, they were blaming themselves pretty hard and even usually cheerful Mirajane and Lissana couldn't help the two slayers, after all they were also sad and worried.

"Yeah you're right. Let's get out of here. Just sitting here isn't going to help anything." Natsu stood up and sighed stretching his overworked muscles only to be stopped by Lissana grabbing his hand and trying to force him to sit down.

"You need to stop, both of you, and rest and eat something! Look Natsu you can't even shake me considering how strong you normally are!" By this point the Salamander looked pissed off and guilty as sin. He wanted to rest but he couldn't not knowing if Lucy was safe was driving him nuts, she couldn't be safe if Natsu was in such a frantic state of mind constantly, he'd been like this since the first week they had been gone.

"Sorry Lissana, I know but I don't want to stop, they're definitely not okay... I don't...I don't want to find a body, I want to find a living, breathing pair of girls..." His onyx gaze fell as he said what no one wanted to think about. The likelihood that they were dead; or worse, broken was too high at this point and everyone cringed as the fiery headed mage looked...defeated, they all looked defeated.

Creeeeeak....The door creaked open in that moment and in someone fell...covered in blood, the only obvious thing...was an orange headband with a pink flower pinned to it. Everyone stared, no one could believe what had just fallen through the door. A weak and bloody Levy was out like a light on the guild floor. Wendy was the first to move, instead of panic she reacted...almost calmly, except the fact she rushed to the girl's side and immediately began attempting to heal her. Gajeel was stunned...all he wanted to do was rush over and make sure Levy was breathing, half way in the process the others rushed past him and pushed him back. He couldn't get near her and he was clenching his fist as he waited patiently, that is until her voice filled his ears with a scream from hell. It shocked everyone as they stepped back and she tried to move away from them all, shaking like the last leaf in autumn. What the hell happened to her?

She was quietly shaking though, and while Wendy had healed most of the wounds she still had several left and Makarov was trying to talk to her. "Levy...Levy my dear girl, what on Earthland happened to you? Please...don't...be afraid, we aren't going to hurt you. We do however...need to ask your help, I know you just arrived home but who took you? Do you know where Lucy is?"

"Lulu...she's still...there, in that place, in...in hell..." She was sniffling and crying now, whatever had happened to her must have been traumatic as hell and all Gajeel could do was stand there guiltily watching her, after what he, himself, had done to her she was now put through something much worse. He wasn't going to forgive them. Whoever had done it would be dead as soon as he had the information on who had taken the two girls...who had taken Levy, his Levy, the one person who made him worried to the point of hating the taste of iron. They were going to die, no questions asked.

"Dear...where is 'there' I need you to tell me so we can save Lucy." Makarov insisted and Gajeel's anger bubbled up; but he controlled it, waiting patiently as the blunette tried her damnedest to answer the guild master without bawling.

"T-To...the north-west of here...far north-west, almost to Blue Pegasus, there's a river right by the sea; there's an abandoned town there at the edge...u-under it is a prison for kidnapped wizards...a-all...girls." the tears streamed down her face and sparks flew from everyone; what had they done to Levy and Lucy? The iron shadow dragon had to know, he really was going to kill someone soon if he didn't get a chance to see Levy himself. He had her glasses and pen to give back to her after all.

She cried hard, Wendy was frowning and trying desperately to heal her, though Erza had stopped the young healer, "You'll use up all your magic...someone will get Porlyusica, right? Someone quickly go get her. We are going to need her for this..." Erza stared intently at the shaking Levy her eyes fixated on where the blood was coming from; her back. What had happened? Erza looked angry as she watched the girl.

Surprisingly the girl hiccuped out a name that no one expected to hear, "Gajeel..." hic hic...her hiccups got worse as she called for him and the slayer froze on the spot, he was suddenly under everyone's gaze and they had all moved away from her giving her a clear path to the iron slayer who was frozen in place looking...shocked; that was the only word for it, shock, pure and simple. The only thing that brought him to his senses was feeling the girl hit him like a tiny bag of bricks making the usually sturdy man stumble. "I-I was...so scared! I tried screaming for your help so many times. I di-didn't know I was so far away..." Even she didn't know why she had called for him on her first instinct when she had walked in on her friend's kidnapping, effectively also becoming a target for the men who had used sleep magic on the Celestial wizard. Levy also didn't know why Leo hadn't come to help almost immediately either. Did they use some kind of anti-magic magic...? Oh god that was confusing her more and she just kept crying against the stunned Gajeel who had no idea what to do about her.

His foot tapped nervously on the ground, why was she clinging to him? Geh...still not knowing what else to do he pattered her head and gave the bawling girl a hug. "Hey...we're going to save Lucy so...Chin up Shirmp...and most of all...thank god you're finally home..." His sigh of relief quickly overwhelmed him, most of his weight was suddenly on the tiny Solid Script mage as the relief put him to sleep. She crumpled under his sudden weight but somehow managed to keep him from hitting the floor; hard at least; eventually setting the poor man's head on her legs while she still cried, he had been really worried huh? She thought and lightly brushed a strand of black hair from his clammy forehead, but her back was hurting, she had that mark on her now.

Whoever had gone to get Porlyusica came back fairly quickly with the healing woman from Edolas; though her name was actually Grandine no one called her that here, but she tched at Levy and approached. "Why the hell are you sitting up right now? Huh?!" Levy cringed slightly, though she didn't move, she was home...she was safe...and Lulu wasn't...fresh tears fell and she tried to stop them from landing on Gajeel's face, who wasn't moving any time soon. "Oi girl, get up so I can take care of that wound, you'll die otherwise!"

It wasn't that Levy couldn't move...she didn't want to, the person she had almost broke her voice crying for was right there, sleeping; if fitfully; on her lap, "C-Could you just work on it like this?" This was bold of her to do, normally the healing witch was really pissy and disliked humans quite a bit so the woman 'tched' at Levy again and pulled her healing items from her big cloak and set to work; roughly; on the mark on the blunette's back that was obviously very fresh and still burned with pain. Levy was doing her best to be silent but the pain had her panting quietly while the woman wrapped gauze around her effectively staunching the bleeding and hiding the jagged x that marked her back now, clothes torn to near shreds she remained still as tone, her exhaustion was starting to surface, the pain not helping and eventually she passed out like that, sitting up.

Erza sighed as she effortlessly moved Gajeel away from Levy and in turn moved her to a comfortable couch that was in the main hall. These two were spent and done for; at least for awhile, that's when the scarlet haired woman noticed something, "Where's Natsu...?"

There was no need to ask really, he was gone, long gone, he'd disappeared as soon as he'd had the general location, walking he'd have a long way to travel; thankfully though Happy had deemed Natsu's determination the right way to do things and was flying the fire dragon slayer in the direction of the Blue Pegasus guild and would ask them about the river Levy had mentioned. He wouldn't need their help otherwise though, he was going to destroy the whole place until he found Lucy; and even then he would probably destroy the rest for...what ever they had done to the blonde, if she bore that same mark that Levy now had...Natsu might well go completely insane.


	3. Chapter 2 - Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu took off after Lucy, of course he's going to rescue her! But what will he find...?

It had taken too long for the fire dragon slayer's liking, it had taken them two full days to get to Blue Pegasus and the whole guild was shocked when Natsu had busted in and hollered at them about Levy and Lucy having gone missing; though no one had told them yet; actually Makarove had been about to put out a job to help them find the girls; yes they had been that desperate by this point. When Natsu mentioned it though Hibiki Lates went all up in arms and activated his Archive magic almost immediately. What was the ename of the dark guild that stayed there? It had to be a dark guild right? That's the only way someone would have even managed to get a hold of two Fairies, especially Lucy and Levy who were among the smartest in the Guild. "Come on Hibiki! I need to know and now or else who knows what could possibly happen to Lucy!"

"Look Natsu I'm trying!" Then it clicked as it pulled up a list of dark guilds and their locations, finally...Hibiki sighs with relief as he finds the name of the dark guild that Natsu was talking about, find it by location, it was called Yeval Claw, this dark guild specialized in anti-magic magic; that was powerful stuff. No way Natsu could beat them on his own, at first Hibiki doesn't share this information instead turning to the pink haired man and staring at him intently. "Let me go with you, you can't beat these people on your own."

"I don't care what you do! Just tell me where they're at!" His fiery temper was getting out of control at the moment and he was literally on fire at this point, so in worry of destroying the guild HIbiki gives Natsu the information he asked for and led the way out, both of them running at a fast pace, it would take awhile still traveling like this, it was near the sea after all. If they could just move faster...

"Fast winds that run the heavens, Vernier!" Two magic circles of blue appear under the two men as a familar voice calls out the speed spell and Wendy Marvell speeds past them with a glance over her shoulder. "Let's go Natsu! We have to save Lucy. Everyone else is counting on us."

Hibiki was definitely not used to this but it was support magic, he had never been under it's influence yet but he took to it quickly and ran at the same pace as Wendy with a scarily silent Natsu following them, the mage's onyx eyes were focused and determined and Wendy could sense the magive coming off of him in waves; he must have eaten finally. That brought a sigh of relief to the blue haired girl.

With the help of Vernier they were able to reach the location much faster, only to be met with ruins and no clear sign of a guild, so the pair of slayers started sniffing around, seeking out Lucy's scent. Natsu; who was far more attuned to it than the little Sky Maiden picked it up first and followed it with a dark glare. When he arrived at where the scent was strongest he found a vent and began searching the area for a way down; everything was underground it seemed. Growling in frustration at not finding the entrance Natsu; being reckless as he tends to be; starts hitting the ground with his iron fist attack eventually knocking the ground out from under the three would be rescuers. They fall into the building from the top apparently because as they fall they land right in the middle of what appeared to be the main hall, they had flags with their mark on them hanging from the various parts of the guild hall; the mark was a simple thing, a set of claw marks being gouged from the flag; or at least it appeared that way.

The whole guild was frozen stiff for a moment when the fire dragon's voice quietly echoed through the hall in a dangerously low tone. "Where's Lucy...?" No answer...snap! Natsu went completly beserk and started attack all of them. Wendy and Hibiki were sort of frozen there, almost...terrified of him. He was really angry and they needed to proceed with caution into this fght, or else maybe get hit by the gone nuts Natsu.

Her voice echoed out, they couldn't stop her support magic unless they got close to her right? "Power of the stout arms that tears heaven...Arms!" The circle appeared again under HIbiki and Natsu, increasing their strength for a period of time and Hibiki took advantage of it not using his magic as he went to beat the pulp out of most of these anti area users, staying well away from the fire tempered dragon who was doing the beating much more effectively than the Archive user. Despite the fact they'd kidnapped Lucy and Levy, this was a surprisingly one-sided fight, turning out they preferred to use tricks and what not instead of actually fighting. That shouldn't have surprised them though, there was no way Lucy and Levy could have lost a fair fight, especially together, if they'd had access to their magic.

He still needed to find Lucy though and ran past all the other prison cells once he found out where the dungeon area was at, the women were afraid of him, he was another man they didn't know and most of them looked absolutely horrible along with horrified. What had they been put through...? The thought was there but barely, he wanted Lucy, no one else mattered at this point and he didn't even understand why. It was her he had to find her...he wasn't at all relieved or happy when he did finally find the source of her scent. It was tinged with a mettalic smelling liquid, it was sticky, smelled awful and...she wasn't breathing, at least she didn't appear to be breathing. Panic set in and his whole being shook, Natsu was trembling with fear and his voice was loud as he yelled, "Wendy! Hurry! Please!!"

The little sky dragon ran into the cell and stared wide eyed at Lucy who laid there in a pool of sticky blood and dirt...she covered her mouth almost about to throw up because of the nasty scent. Hadd the same thing happened to Levy? No, focus Wendy! She scolded herself and quickly rushed to the blonde's side placing her hands over the girl. That was when one of her keys glowed and pulling himself through the gate Leo or Loke to everyone in Fairy Tail, came out and rushed to Lucy's side. The moment he touched her thought he was awake, wide brown eyes filled with terror and she desperately moved away from her Lion spirit making more blood spill from her plethora of wounds. "H-Hey...Lucy it's okay...it's just me, Loke. I...I couldn't feel your magic or anything and then a month passed and none of us knew what had happened but we couldn't come from our keys to your side..." Leo hit his fist into the ground, cracking it just a bit, and repeated this process as Wendy tried desperately to heal the terrified Celestial wizard.

"Lucy you have to calm down...wha-what...never mind..." Wendy stopped before she could even dark ask anything. She needed to heal her and get her home, getting Lucy home is all that mattered but how could she do that when Lucy wouldn't even let Wendy near her? Feeling desperate to heal the older girl she turned to Natsu, "Um...see if you can get near her. Levy just wanted nothing to do with anyone else until she had seen Gajeel...and he had sensed that something bad had happened to her, maybe...it's the same for you?"

Apparently Wendy hadn't needed to ask, Natsu approached the blonde slowly with Hibiki watching carefully. Maybe he oughta call Doranbolt...? If he can manipulate memories... maybe he could save them from whatever had broken them so badly by taking the memories away. He sighed to himself though shaking his head, "No that's the easy way out and...not the right way to do this. Proceed with caution Natsu." Hibiki warned while keeping his eyes on the dragon slayer as he slowly walked towards Lucy.

Unfortunately unlike Levy the blonde mage was afraid of everyone, including her team mate, when Happy approached though she cried with relief and hugged the blue Exceed almost to the point of suffocation, thankfully Happy had no threatening presence, Natsu on the other hand looked like he was fit to burst into flames at any moment. Like he was so angry that he was accidentally scaring Lucy, even though all he wanted to do was hug her and be so happy that she was still....alive. Leo couldn't approach her either, no one but Happy could, so for now Leo goes back to the Celestial World as the cat struggled to breathe in order to even speak to Lucy. "H-Hey...Lucy...I know you're scared but...could you let Wendy heal you? You're really hurt..." The cat's ears as he mentioned this, it seemed like he would have to be the middle cat for the moment.

"Wendy...?" Brown eyes raised up as Lucy finally realized she was in a room with friends and not the people who had trapped her here for the past month. Her eyes focus once again as she looks around spotting Hibiki and a very distant Natsu; who throws her keys to her instead of handing them to her. What was the matter with him? She wondered it idly and reached for her keys but...she stopped mid-grab and shakes her head. "I-I shouldn't touch them..." It was sort of mumbled and difficult for anyone normal to hear, but what she had said was plain and clear to Natsu and Lucy, for some reason she was afraid to touch her keys, the Spirit Keys that meant more to her than anything. This made our fiery tempered slayer walk up to her, ignoring her fear and staring into her eyes with a determined look of...annoyance. "What the hell is your problem Natsu?"

"Pick up...your keys. They've been worried about you and you won't pick them up? The question isn't what's my problem...but what's your problem Lucy, huh?" His hand gripped her wrist tightly and she cringed, that fear coming back into her eyes, but Natsu wasn't moving. "I don't know what happened to you...but you'll get through it." As suddenly as he had appeared to rescue her...he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into his chest squeezing her tightly. "I won't leave you're side until you're better."

Lucy instantly burst into tears and blabbed about everything, at least about why Levy had gotten home and she hadn't. "I-I! We...fought so hard Natsu! There was nothing we could do, it was so hard! They had a spell on our cages that stopped us from using magic and...and..." she hiccups as she continues crying and talking, "One time they took us out and we fought back. We did what we could but all I could do...was cause enough of a distraction that Levy managed to escape...but...bwaaaaahhhh!" Her crying voice filled the room and made Natsu's heart sink into his stomach, he wanted to know what had happened to her...but he didn't want to push her right now. She struck him as fragile at this point in time.

"Luce..." He mumbled it while keeping hold of her, it felt so good to have her there and Happy was doing his best to pat the tears away from her stained red cheeks. "I'm glad you're safe...Let's get you home. I'll even take a train so we can get there faster okay?" He'd suffer through that for her, he would suffer through hell for her...but well...with Wendy there maybe the train ride wouldn't suffer too horribly.

Lucy nods at the fire dragon slayer and attempts to stand up; after grabbing her keys, only to fall to her knees with the backs of her calves covered in blood. Seeing what was there Natsu nearly lost it. It was a jagged X mark that would be formed when she pressed her legs together. What the hell was that there for!? Why...those marks? Levy had one too didn't she? Natsu hadn't stuck around to see for certain but he remembered the blood...that smell, he was finally starting to get sick from being exposed to the metallic blood smell for so long, so he scoops the blonde up and carried her away, princess style and past empty cages that he was sure Hibiki and Wendy had opened and freed the female wizards trapped here, why had they been collecting them though? Too dense to think about something really horribly awful he tilted his head in a confused manner as he thought before shaking it off. "H-Hey Natsu....Lucy's....squishing me..." came the cat's voice suddenly and the man laughed.

"Sorry pal, you'll have to deal with it. I'm not taking you away from her, just let her hug you," he smiled at his little cat buddy and kept carrying Lucy with a quiet Hibiki and Wendy following along behind them. Wendy was being quiet though because she could now get near enough to Lucy to try and heal the marks on her legs and she stuck close to Natsu who was carrying Lucy.

"Hey I'm going back to Blue Pegasus, get Lucy home safe yeah? I should probably tell the magic council that you wiped out that dark guild too...I mean you should be fine for doing that and not get into any trouble," With that Hibiki waved and separated from the two slayers and the Celestial wizard. She clutched her keys to her chest as the tears fell from her eyes again. She felt so relieved to have these in her hands again, especially after a month of nothing...but that and she was ready to disappear. Somewhere in her head she wondered about Levy...and how she was, but it was so hard to focus when her legs hurt so badly.

Wendy was panting a bit as she did her best to seal up the wounds on Lucy's legs, only managing to saunch the bleeding; poor Natsu though...his clothes had blood on them and Lucy looked a little worried before pulling out one of her keys. "Open...Gate of the Virgin, Virgo." Virgo came quickly and hugged lucy smiling with worry, she normally didn't show much expression but as they had been separated for a month she wanted to be sure Lucy was all right.

"Yes, what is it Princess?" She smiled as she waited on Lucy to answer with patience of a saint and seeming relieved; her spirits really had been worried sick it seemed.

Lucy sighs and glances at Virgo, "Could you bring Natsu and I some clothes...something with a long dress preferably." Virgo goes back to the Celestial World without a word and returns moments later bearing two outfits from her world, one was long and beautiful, while the other was plainly designed for a man. "Thank you, I appreciate all the help Virgo."

"Not a problem, Princess! Welcome home..." Virgo snickered a little as she gestured at Natsu, as if him simply being there was home enough for the blonde wizard who had turned scarlet red. No way in hell was Lucy gonna admit to that. She still hadn't forgotten anything, she didn't need to worry about Natsu on top of all the horrible memories.

Lucy pushes away from the pink haired man and stares at him for a minute before handing him the outfit. "Change, so that way you're not drawing suspcious attention covered in blood like that..."

"B-but Lucy...I like my clothes!"

"Too bad! Changing you freaking flame brain!" with that Lucy...tried to bolt off but only succeeded in falling, her legs were weak from the pain they had taken...great she couldn't walk on her own right now.

Natsu sighed and glanced at the flailing Lucy before picking her up again and carrying her off to the woods, puts her behind a tree and disappears behind a tree himself, "Just ask for my help right now...sheesh. You can't walk at the moment. Hey Wendy, keep an eye out will ya?"

"Right Natsu!" The sky maiden called into the woods and turned her back letting her mind wander as she wondered if Lucy would be able to change okay by herself when she couldn't even stand right now, maybe she should check on her. She decides against it though and with a sigh she sits down and waits patiently.

"Hey, you done yet Luce?"

"Almost...just a second more..." she wiggled on the ground, by Mavis she hated this, she was so pathetic right now...but at least she was alive. Fresh tears fell and she started bawling again. Damn it! Why was she crying so much right now? Then the darkness of her memories from the past month passes through her head and instead of quietly crying she starts hollering with the rage and fear of what she had been put through, and not just her but Levy. Her voice echoed around the forest and it drew Natsu to her immediately as he found her crying on the ground with the long skirt almost over her hips.

With a sigh Natsu closed his eyes and used Lucy's scent to find her, lift her up and pull the skirt up her body. Mavis...she was so weak right now, and she hadn't stopped crying yet. How could he even...start to help her? He hugged her tightly as she cried. This is all he could do. The road to her recovery was going to be long, he instinctively knew that and in the same breath vowed never to leave her alone ever again, especially if he was worried about it; which for awhile that may seem like paranoia but he wasn't risking this happening to her again, ever again.


	4. Chapter 3 - Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What can they say they're finally home, back in Magnolia but things aren't all fun and games right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry! This took forever to update but I'll probably add 2 chapters in today! Again I say I'm really sorry this took so long!

Finally, she was home. Lucy could walk a little now and she was hobbling along the streets of Magnolia after two days of carriage and train rides...Poor Natsu had suffered so much for her sake. That made Lucy smile a little as she thought about it, she was grateful for it but was continually nervous by the usually casual touches she got from the pink haired man, with everything that had happened to her it was no wonder. A shudder trails down her spine as she thinks about it and she shuts her eyes quickly to block it all out. No, no she couldn't remember now, not right now, she couldn't afford to remember right now or she would break. Her legs weaken for a moment as she stumbles but thankfully Happy pulls on her to keep her from falling on her face, "Hey Lucy! Are you okay? Don't go falling over now! You're doing so good!" Happy's cheerful voice encouraged the weak legged blonde and made her smile as the blue Exceed showed that he cared about what happened to Lucy. In thanks she reaches up and scritches behind his ear smiling a little.

"Lucy, when we get to the guild I'm pretty sure Porlyusica is going to want to check you out, I mean I healed you to a degree but...I'm exhausted now and feel like I could sleep for several days straight." Wendy sounded so much like a doctor or nurse that it made Lucy giggle slightly while she thought about Levy, she couldn't wait to get home and see her friend again.

Did someone with Telepathy hear Lucy's wish? All of a sudden, as the four approached the guild hall, the short Levy came running down the path in...wait why was she in a black outfit? Lucy's answer came trotting along behind her like a little lost puppy...Gajeel was following her, very closely. She blinks a little as she examines her best friend's new style closely, she had on a black tank top, topped by a long sleeved black jacket with metal cuffs, a black skirt that hung just above her knees and her bandana wasn't orange but brown, decorated with black feathers instead of a flower. Lucy had to admit it surprised her that Gajeel seemed to actually have good taste, she didn't think he cared for appearances more often than not with how gruff he always looked. That's when Levy's voice finally reached Lucy, "Hey! Lulu! I'm so glad you're finally home! I-I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I couldn't help you!" Levy began crying as she finally got to her friend and hugged the blonde with such force it was hard for her to breathe, but Lucy was shocked by Levy's apology, what had she done with apologizing for? Nothing! Nothing at all! It wasn't her fault that those bastards took both of them!

Unfortunately Levy's sudden appearing in a burst of tears also had Lucy crying in answer to the tears of the blunette, thaty had been through hell...both of them, they crumpled in a pile on the ground, the two slayers hovering as near to them as they could without bothering either of the crying girls. "Levy it's not your fault! None of this is your fault! So don...don't apologize to me! You were hurt just as much as I was..." She hiccuped several times while cilnging to her best friend. Makarov had wandered over and began to wonder what the hell they had been through, but he dared not ask, instead eyeing the two crying children and he felt a wave of relief. They were home, safe and mostly sound it seemed.

Of course then Porlyusica came storming out of the guild, snatched Lucy away from the other crying girl; who was roughly thrown into Gajeel's arms at the same time; and was dragging Lucy to the clinic of the guild hall before anyone had any time to stop her. Natsu however was the only one who was already following Porlyusica into the guild and Makarov quickly intervened using his Giant's magic to grab the fiery slayer with his giant hand, "Be patient my boy! Let the woman do her job!"

That was all Lucy heard before the healing witch pulled her into the room and shut the door, "Show me where you were marked girl." An order not to be disobeyed, so Lucy lifts the long dress she wore and shows Porlyusica the back of her legs, pressed together they formed a similar scar to what Levy was now hiding upon her back. "Good grief...who would do this to you two?" The woman sounded sympathetic and her expression softened for a moment before she sighed and told Lucy to lay down; which the blonde obeyed easily and without fuss. "This is going to sting a little girl but you'll need it to prevent infection." With that the pink haired woman tossed a red potion onto the back of Lucy's legs that made her squeal in agony which caused Natsu outside the door to go even more nuts, trying to fight with Makarov to let him go. Too bad for the fire mage that he didn't. Instead after the pain subsided Porlyusica asked her something while staring closely to get an honest answer out of her the same way she had done to Levy over the course of the past four days. "Is that still intact?"

Fifty shades of red paing the poor girl's face and she really looks like she's not about to answer, her brown eyes cast down, with shame or worry, maybe relief? It was hard to tell and the fuss Natsu was making outside wasn't helping any, what was he doing out there anyway?

He was so pissed off! Lucy was in that room going through who knows what and Gramps had him tightly in his giant hand; which Natsu dared not burn. He wanted to know if Lucy was going to be okay and he struggled until Gajeel's irritating voice grated against the pink haired man's ears. "Don't bother, he won't let you go see her until that damn woman opens that door...He did the same thing to me when..." Then silence and he looked away not finishing that sentence.

When what?! Now Natsu was even more worried but with a sigh of defeat eventually went limp in Master's hand and waited, impatiently, but he waited, ignoring even Happy's attempts to make him smile. He was worried and...very hungry. His stomach growled loudly causing Mirajane to giggle and offer him a plate of food, "Here Natsu, eat something we'll be able to see Lucy in a minute I'm sure. It didn't take long for Porlyusica to fix Levy up either...well once she answered her question." Question? What question? Now he was even more curious but sighed and took a bite of the food that was in front of him, it tasted so good after all that worrying and everything tasting like ash...so he ate faster. "Slow down Natsu or you'll get hiccups!" Mira scolded playfully but he just shook his head.

He tilted his head a little as he finally slowed down, Gajeel was close to Levy, why was that? Even Pantherlily was sitting protectively on the little blue haired girl's shoulder, patting the back of her head. what? Natsu was throughly confused by this change of...teams, why weren't Jet and Droy with her? When he looks around to find them he noticed them sitting sort of far away staring at Levy worriedly, with a shrug he stops wondering and glances at the clinic door, it was creaking open. "You can see her now everyone." Porlyusica said and suddenly marched off out of the guild to return home finally.

Erza and Gray were the first ones to approach the door and he quickly followed them. Lucy was sitting on the bed red faced for some reason, he didn't know why though but she kept nervously glancing between the three people in her room. "Lucy, how are you feeling?" Erza was the first one to talk while she kept her brown eyes fixed on the celestial mage lying on that clinic bed.

"Um...Okay I guess...My lets hrt but everything else is fine..." She sighed to herself as she laid down and grumbled, she had to think about something else, so she goes to worrying about the thing she always worried about, "I've gotta make two months worth of rent this month..." Her go to worry always being the rent of her place, she worried about it too much sometimes; she'd just been kidnapped and had who knows what done to her and she was worried about her place? The place she had been kidnapped from?! Natsu go...a little more pissed off to say the least but he stayed quiet for now.

"Tch! You should be more worried about your own body than working Lucy!" Gray was the one to chide her before even Erza could talk, "You don't have to worry about it...I was worried but unlike a few of us I managed to keep my head somewhat straight..." The black haired man looked away rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh, "Look...I took care of it for you okay? That's the only time I'm gonna do it so you'd better get better soon!" Then he sighed and gave Lucy a hug, "I was worr-"

She yelled and shoved Gray away in panic, oh crap! Natsu slid to the other side of the bed to quickly catch the falling Lucy who had shoved herself out of the bed as well as Gray away from her, and she was shaking. Natsu felt it and his worry grew. "Luce...are you okay?" A simple nod from the blonde was all the answer he got, "Why'd you freak out like that?" She shakes her head, okay so she's not gonna tell him, another long sigh.

"Gray...It seems she's like Levy right now, I hate to suggest this but you shouldn't do that again." Erza said it calmly, she had expected the out burst, because that was how Levy had been, even Jet and Droy couldn't get close to her without her panicking and...clinging to Gajeel like a lifeline, almost as if he was the only thing that was safe for her. What Erza didn't understand is why Natsu and Gajeel specifically? Was it because they were slayers...or because of the dreams they'd had before they disappeared, were they linked by some kind of Telepathy now? Erza had a lot of questions and no answers, she only knew that...from this point on; until Lucy recovered she would likely not be able to me around many of the others.

Gray looked...a bit hurt but he nodded, "Right, look Lucy I'm sorry...I didn't mean to freak you out." He looked away and sighed, "We're here for you, ya know? We'll do what we can to help you feel better, so don't be afraid to ask." With that he walked out the door and left the guild hall for awhile.

"Lucy, I'm sure the others are all worried so we're going to leave you here. Natsu...well I'm sure you can guess what I'll tell you next. Stay with her, as unfortunate as it is she seems to feel...safe and comfortable with you." Erza followed suit but he didn't follow, instead he lifted Lucy up and set her on the bed before sitting on the edge of it.

The others filed in, all of them far more aware of how Lucy must have been feeling, probably because they had been taking care of Levy for four days now. Similar traumas but Lucy seemed more panicked than the blunette, while Natsu didn't understand why she was so freaked out about other people getting near her...no other guys, it was just guys that had her panicking. He blinked several times as Lucy conversed with Cana for a long time, even giving her a hug before leaving, now normally Natsu wouldn't notice things like that but he felt very aware of her feelings right now, why wast that? He tilted his head a few times as Lucy talked with lots of people, assuring them she as perfectly fine, 'but you're not...' he thought every single time she would say something like that eventually this pulls another sigh from him. He'd been sighing an awful lot hadn't he...? When the visists finally end he pats Lucy's head and grins at her, trying to prod a smile out of her, "Hey, aren't you glad to be home? I'll take you to your place tonight. I think Gramps and a few others picked it up for you."

Lucy's response was...panic, she didn't really want to go home and instead she grabbed Natsu's scarf; not something many people could do without him trying to burn them; and talked to him quietly. "I-I don't...want to go home, if you're opposed to be staying in the guild then...let me stay with you." That was awful forward but it made Natsu grin like an idiot.

"Cool! We  can sleep over at my place for once! This should be fun!" Happy also nodded his approval and bounced around with a fish in his paws.

"Yay Lucy's gonna stay with us for once!" Happy's attitude...pulled a giggle from Lucy causing the cat to get even more excited. "Yay yay! She's feeling better Natsu!"

"Seems that way." He chuckled before standing up and going for the door. "Hey, I'll be back later Luce. If you can't walk when we go to my place I'll carry you." He waved and left Lucy in the room by herself for awhile.

Lucy on the other hand wanted someone to hug, and since Happy had run away she called Plue from the Celestial world on for all of her zodiac spirits to come out one by one and check on her. They were using their own magic to come through so Lucy didn't feel any tugs as they all came out to visit her. Aquarius was snarky as per usual but showed the fact that she had been worried by tapping Lucy on the head and saying something about her looking much better in skirts than long dresses, a climpliment from Aquarius? They must have really been worried and the pattern continued, Scorpio, Aries, Capricorn, all of them came to check on her...but Leo. He didn't come to see her and her heart sunk a little, why hadn't he  come to see her? Finally she gets her answer in Aries coming back out, "M-Miss Lucy I'm so sorry...but Leo...he's upset and doesn't want to see you right now..."

"W-Why not...? W-What..." Lucy droops slightly and frowns, trying not to cry again, but the reaction so her sadness is pretty instant. Leo comes through his gate and stares at Lucy worriedly who looks up at him with a small glare. "What did I do to make you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you Lucy. I'm worried, but you don't want anything to do with me...I can't even get near you without you having a minor heart attack. What I want to know is what happened to you...and help you through it, that's what we're here for, all of your spirits but you...were afraid of a few of us, you know that hurts us right?" He explained it while keeping his distance and he seemed...angry which just stabbed Lucy in the heart more making her look away from her Lion spirit.

She answers him quietly, eyes cast down, "I'm sorry, I just...need time to get better. I'm home now so...Just give me a little time okay?"

Loke answers her request with a nod before sighing, "Just don't forget to call us when you need us." With that he disappeared back into the Celestial world.

Before Lucy could stop it she was crying...again, would her tears never dry up? This had been the worst month of her life ever and things were still going down hill it seemed. She hiccuped and tried to calm down before Natsu came back, unfortunately he really was tuned to her feelings right now and it wasn't but moments after the firts tears fell that he was back in the room and sitting beside her. "Luce, what happened now? I had a bad feeling...I guess it's my body telling me to get you somewhere you can rest properly." He pats her head without waiting for her answer and scoops her up, packing her out of the guild hall. Though Lucy did nothing to stop him she was embarrassed and tried to see where Levy was; she was still with Gajeel, who had placed an arm on his head and was smiling at the blue haired girl.

"Ready to get outta here Shrimp?" He grinned as he asked this, trying to get Levy to smile, during this moment Lucy had paid close attention and when she started walking Gajeel stepped in front of her and led her, not towards Fairy Hills...but in town? What? Now she was really confused, oh she would ask Levy about it tomorrow, maybe it was like how Lucy only felt safe around Natsu...that still bugged her. Why wasn't Natsu freaking her out like every other guy had been?

Surprisingly the fire dragon slayer answered Lucy's inner monologue, "I don't know why I'm not bothering you...I don't get it either, but I told you already. I'm going to stay with you until you get better. Oh...and it seems like I can hear most of your thoughts..." WHAT?! "Ow! You yell that loud in your head too!? Ugh...Please don't do that again!" His onyx eyes were wide as he asked her not to do it again, but nope, Lucy was passed out by this point with one last idle thought, what the hell was going on with them?


	5. Chapter 4- Telepathy is Dangerous

Levy grumbled slightly as light hit her eyes before the hazel eyes blinked open and in her cloud of still sleepiness she spotted Gajeel, sleeping in the front of his door with his head on a pillow and a shabby blanket over him. She felt bad almost immediatly as she sat up and stared at him for a minute. Ever since she had gotten home he had made her stay with him, not letting her go back to Fairy Hills, had even bought her some clothes, nothing that Levy herself cared for but they worked, he really hadn't let her get anywhere near her old apartment...old apartment? No her apartment, the place where she should have been sleeping instead of stealing Gajeel's bed, though she did happen to notice that Panther Lily was curled up on top of the sheets near where Levy's head had been, which made her giggle softly as she petted the Exceed's head inciting a purr from him before he woke up with a start, "Y-You didn't hear anything Levy!" He quickly said causing the blue haired girl to fully laugh now.

That made Gajeel's eyes open and he turned his crimson gaze over to Levy with bedhead hair, "Yer too loud Shrimp. Ya oughta be quieter in someone else's house." Not that he was going to let her go anywhere else, she thought while keeping her gaze on him. "Quit starin' will ya?" He could feel the gaze like needle points on the back of his neck and for some reason it was making him nervous so while she remains silent he sits up and turns to face her sitting cross legged on the floor, "Look what's the matter with you? Why do you keep staring and being quiet?"

"Did you think I didn't notice?" Notice what? He wondered and Levy frowned slightly, "That." She gestured at him as if he had grown a second head, but he was only more confused by the gesture, "Ugh...you really haven't noticed at all? Seriously how could you not?" In the past four days...Levy had started hearing things occasionally inside her head, and only yesterday had she realized that it was coming from Gajeel, like his thoughts. Though they were cut up and she didn't hear all of them, she had started hearing them though.

So she stares at him, thinking pointedly about how he wasn't  going to let her go stay anywhere else right now, in response he speaks up, "Why would I let ya go somewhere you ain't gonna be safe at?" That caused him to blink and go wide eyed. "Is that what I've been hearing?!" Levy rears back as a little flash of fear fills her eyes about him suddenly yelling, "S-Sorry Shrimp..." He scratches his chin nervously and sighs at her staring for a long while but...trying not to let her hear what he was thinking about.

Levy's nose wrinkled up as she watched him curiously, he was obviously thinking about something but she couldn't hear it, until it suddenly rushed her head, "What? You want me to join your team?! I can't do that! Jet and Droy...would be upset..." She looks down as guilt stabs through her chest, she couldn't bear to be around them...yet she wanted to be a team with them. No...she couldn't do that, not if being near them scared her half to death; even though she knows they won't hurt her anyway...she feels safest with Gajeel.

"I know ya do shorty...Why do you think I've kept you with me so much these past few days? I'm worried about ya, besides that...I promised didn't I?" He stared at her as he thought about what had went down when he had woken up after a full day of sleeping.

Levy had been sleeping in the clinic bed next to him, not in the same bed but near enough that he knew she had been there before he opened his eyes and he could smell the fear that had gripped her so hard that he had been worried. Yeah he remembered it clearly, getting up to find her crying and feeling guilty, why had he been the one that she...felt like she needed to be near, after what he had done to her and the other two he didn't deserve it at all, but she had launched up as soon as she had noticed it was him and clung to him shaking, it had made him make her a promise; and he never backed out on a promise, "You won't be alone in this, I'll do what I can. I promise that you can rely on me Shrimp." As he remembered it the memories flooded Levy's head too and she looked away nervously, something making her heart trip up and Gajeel heard it which made him tilt his head at her.

She raises a hand and stares, Don't ask, the only thought to echo in his head and poor Panther Lily was looking confusedly between the pair, "What's going on with you two? Okay, this is going to bother me so I would like to know what you're talking about."

Sighing Levy replies to the Exceed, "Gajeel wants me to join your guys' team. That's what. Which I guess makes sense with..."

"The fact that she's been nervous around everyone but us..."

"So I'm thinking of joining..."

"Our team." The two finished the explanation together, picking up where the other left off which caused them to look at each other wide eyed and Lily looked shocked before blinking several times at the pair.

"You two...what is..." Lily couldn't even think of how to phrase his question so he just blurted it out at them, "Are you two linked together by something, because that was not normal. Unless two people are really close I wouldn't think a connection like this would be impossible!"

"We are not..."

"Close at all! I definitely don't like him!"

"I definitely don't like her!" Tch...Gajeel stared in shock as they did it again, how did he shut it off? Now that they were well aware of it, it wasn't just cut up, they could hear the thoughts clearly. "Hey...you're smart...do you have any idea how to turn it off?" he didn't particularly care but he didn't want to accidentally do that all day. Taking their sentences and finishing them for each other, that would make everyone at the guild suspicious, not that they weren't already with the fact that he had been making her stay with him the past four days.

Levy unfortunately in response shakes her head at him, "I-I...have no idea how to turn it off. Maybe just try to...not finish each other's sentences like that..." She looked away from him and sighed slightly before hopping up and picking his hair brush up which she ran through her hair. Trying to be...careful and keep his thoughts clear he looked at her and watched her move around his room examining her carefully and hoping that his thoughts were silent. The only thing that tipped the girl off that she was being watched was the feeling of pinpicks on her back. "Gajeel?"

"What Shrimp?" He wasn't looking at her when he answered her and she had turned just to make sure before frowning slightly at him.

"Were you...watching me...?"

"No." He said it clearly and stood up taking his brush from her and pulling it through her hair surprisingly gently which made her blink and turn a little red. "Don't question what I'm doin' just deal with it." He sighs while he brushes her hair for her while she nervously wiggles trying to ignore her beating heart. He couldn't hear it right? "I can hear it."

Levy's face flushed more, this was going to take some getting used to. "Tell me about it." She glared at him slightly over her shoulder, when he spoke up answering her thought instead of letting her talk to him. "Sorry Shrimp! I can't help it, they just pop into my head now. This ain't gonna be easy to deal with, but it's looking like we'll have to get used to it."

Sighing she nodded at what he said, "Yeah...I can tell that much...I wonder if it would fade if we got far apart?" Not happenin', echoed in her head and she turned her hazel eyes on him, "What? Why not?" Not safe, simple answers, what she'd expect from him. She shakes her head a little, they were already getting used to the connection it seemed.

Poor Lily didn't know what to do though, they were having conversations that he knew nothing about. Annoyed at not knowing he raised his paw and glared at the pair, "Hey! Don't you think you should research this a bit Levy? It has to be disconcerting with what's going on."

"Well yes...it's not easy to get used to but I have no idea where I would start researching," She glanced at him while Gajeel finished brushing her hair and started to brush his own; she wasn't letting him get away with that through, jumping a bit she snatched the brush and started brushing his hair at the bottom. "Hey, sit down so I can do this Gajeel." Grumbling he listened and plopped down on the bed letting Levy kneel behind him and brush his hair, they were quiet, even their thoughts were quiet as she did this. This whole time she had been with him, he'd been the one she wanted to see, and now she felt like something really bad would happen to her if she attempted to leave his side, maybe it was just her attaching onto someone strong to keep her safe, she didn't like this feeling of helplessness though, of not being able to control who she was around and who she couldn't be around. She wanted that control back, but...her heart wasn't ready for that yet. It had only been four days...compared to what had felt like years of hell, she wouldn't be surprised if several years had been knocked off her life.

Suddenly a growl echoed from Gajeel below her hands that were still working on his hair, "Don't think like that. I made a promise...but I'm also going to tear apart whoever did all this to you." She shakes her head a bit, "Grr...I can't help it Shrimp, I'm really..." He grumbled a little while he grudgingly admitted what was on his mind, "I'm angry that someone hurt you in so many ways. It's the one thing I can't see inside yer head right now. It's...dark and I'm worried."

Lily was watching quietly this time, he was getting used to them having conversations without him now too but this sounded important to the Exceed so he remained silent while listening to what they were saying. He had no idea what had happened to her but if there was darkness in Levy's bright mind...then it had to have been bad. Instinctively feeling his partner's anger Lily also felt angry and he glared at a wall when he muttered, "He's not the only one worried. I can't...I don't know what he can and can't see but I know that you've got a scar on your back that will never heal, never fade away, and that you're scared of other people. It makes me angry that someone would harm my guild mates in such a way."

Levy sniffled and tears fell from her eyes, it had been bad, probably the most she had ever cried in her life and the tears fell again, they cared..."Of course we do. Tch...You can rely on me and Lily. So join our team, we'll go to the guild, you can talk to Bunny Girl more, we'll just talk to everyone and we can start from there...we will find out who hurt you two and the whole of Fairy Tail will seek them out and smash'em to pieces. You can bet on that." He heard her hiccup behind him and glanced over his shoulder at her, she was still crying but she didn't seem willing to stop brushing his hair and that made him grumble a bit, "Chin up."

It was really hard on Levy, to resist hugging him, he had been her lifeline these past several days, her 'safe haven' and she was pretty sure most of his shirts had tear stains on them by this point. I don't care about that, the thought was clearly directed at her and she nods a little, "R-Right, I know but I just feel bad and I don't know how to make it up to you..."

He's silent, even his head is quiet for a long time. Gajeel? Her cute voice echoed in his head and he blinked still not wanting to let her see what was on his mind. "Don't worry about it Shorty. Finish with this and we'll head to the guild. I'm sure Bunny Girl has probably nearly killed Natsu to get him up by now." After he said that it didn't take long for Levy to finish her tiny task; he took really good care of his hair it seemed and it made it easy to pull the brush through it.

Once she's done she hops up and gets a pile of clothes he had chosen for her and disappears into his bathroom leaving Gajeel to change in his bed room. The silence except for rustling clothes was driving Lily mad at this point and he started flying around, almost like pacing but with wings. She finally came out in something similar to what she had worn yesterday but she didn't have the jacket on, she did walk over to it and pick it up the big jagged X on her back stabbing the two males in the chest as she pulled the jacket on...covering her Fairy Tail guild mark. That bothered them the most, Levy always wore things to show off her mark, not now though, she would probably keep that jacket forever; at least until she got better; so the pair hoped anyway. "Let's get going you two. We won't ever make it to the guild if we keep hainging around here."

Sighing he leads the way out of the apartment that he had rented; though he hadn't told her yet that it wasn't the place he lived normally; actually he was usually always just in the guild, he rented the place to have somewhere safe to keep her. "Huh. I see. That's why it's so spartan then, I just thought it was your thing." Crap...she'd heard the thoughts, "Of course I did. I'm able to pin point them better now. I wonder why though..." Silence for a moment before she laughs, "Okay okay, I'll stop!"

"Gajeel...Levy laughed." Lily was staring in shock.

"Yeah. I noticed," He was also staring in shock at the fact she had laughed. "You haven't laughed in four days...or even smiled." The wave of relief washes over him again and it rushes into Levy as well who audibly sighs from the sudden pressure lifted off of her.

"I...haven't have I?" She blinked and stared thinking now as they continued their walk through the streets of Magnolia, while he does his best not to intrude upon her thoughts, "No it's okay if you do. I don't mind. I'm not thinking about anything really important right now. Though we should set some limits for this..." Red faced she stared at him while she walked her hazel eyes boring into him, "No peeping around at anything private..."

"Like what Shrimp?" Gajeel was honestly confused for several minutes before it slowly dawned on him from Levy's glare of death, "Why the hell would I do that!? I wouldn't do that to ya! Not on yer life!" Bad move Gajeel...He just seriously insulted Levy and he knew it. "N-Now wait a minute...S-Stop it Squirt!" He was backing up quickly as she advanced on him with that bag in her hand, "S-Squirt! I didn't mean it like that! You're not ugly! Or anything like that I swear!" Her dangerous aura disappeared for a minute but she was still glaring and stormed off in a flurry of huffs.

What the hell was her problem?! After what she had been through why...she growled and shook her head picking up pace as she heard Gajeel following her as fast as he could. She shouldn't have felt so insulted, more of relieved but she was angry that he had said that. Not on her life huh? Well definitely not on his! Didn't matter that she...Her thought stops cold and she freezes Gajeel finally able to catch up with her and he was panting slightly, "Y-Yer sure...hard to catch when yer mad Squirt..." Before he can keep talking a thought echoes in his head, I like you...He stops dead wide eyed and steps back a bit. "Hey...that ain't funny. We've been around each other constantly for the past four days....You're probably just needing something to hold onto."

A tiny twinge rushes through her heart, before she turned on him and stared directly into his red eyes as best she could from her short height. "No, I knew I liked you before, so being with you so much made me realize that there was no getting around it....I like you." She stares at the ground her head empty but that one little phrase. I like you too. Blink blink, she lifts her eyes back up to catch is crimson gaze, "What?"

"I like you too! Sheesh! Don't make me say it again...Damn it Shrimp, that's embarrassing..." He was scratching his cheek in embarrassment before he felt her suddenly hug him wrapping her tiny warm hands under his shouldrs and around his back; as best she could for being so short, "Gihi...Ya could have warned me. Not that it matters it's fine." He rubbed the back of her head in response to the hug and mumbled to her, "I will keep my promise Levy. Whoever hurt you is gonna pay big time."

She nods against his chest closing her eyes before glancing up at him, the same thought passing through their heads as they kept going to the guild, "This Telepathy is dangerous," They said together but they didn't walk hand in hand, no it was too soon to let the others know anything about what they feel for each other. They approached the hall to see Natsu and Lucy waiting outside and the two waved at the blunette and her raven haired companion.


	6. Chapter 5 - Hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After four days of talks with the Guildmaster there's something important that these four all need to do now...but it's not the best situation for them...let's just hope that things go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first off, I went over some of my stuff and noticed the plethora of typos...So I'm gonna fix all those! Because I'm not a 3rd Grader who can't type or spell correctly I've been bringing the story over from another site and I read it on my phone while typing it on my laptop...so that's why there have been so many typos. But I'm fixing them!

Levy ran away from Gajeel's side and straight into that Bunny Girl's arms causing a tiny spark of jealousy to hit him in the chest; which he quickly stomped the feeling away so the bookworm wouldn't sense it. He still wasn't used to the Telepathic connection that they had discovered this morning nor the confession they'd just went through; he had too much to think about since he'd been talking to Master Makarov privately whenever he would get lucky enough that Levy would fall into a deep sleep, he...had a plan that he needed the Master's help with now that Salamander and Bunny Girl had come back as well, they were just as involved in this plan as Levy was. Of course Gajeel had planned for that in the first place, now he just had to implement his idea...and talk to these three about it. Feeling nervous about what he had been plotting the past four days his face tinged slightly pink but he quickly shook it away, Damn it Shrimp, making me so freaking nervous about all of this!

Why? What did I do? Her thought suddenly reached him and he squawked aloud before covering his mouth as Pantherlily gave him a suspicious stare, "Quit starin' Lily! I ain't sayin' anything so don't even try and ask! As for you Squirt just shut up and don't worry about it right now!" Jerk... "I am not a jerk!"

Glancing down suddenly Gajeel blinked several times, when had he moved to Levy's side? He sort of wanted to smile but instead kept a neutral mask on and glanced at the short blunette. "We have some stuff to talk about Shirmp. I've had an idea running through my head for the past four days now...and it involves both you and Bunny Girl. So let's chat, eh Salamander?"

"Ah...but Gajeel...I wanted to talk with Lulu about something..." the bookworm protested but he just shook his head at her, "But!"

"Look we'll talk about it in private. It's somethin' I think will be important and you can chat at blondie while I go over the idea with Salamander." He cut her off and turned his intense red eyes on her, surprisingly keeping her silent. Fine...is the thought as she proceeds to pout and make him scowl; she was freakin' cute as hell when she pouted, "Bah! Great! Now let's ask Master Makarov about keeping the others away while we talk to him." He nearly yelled in order to keep from hugging Levy to alleiviate her pouting expression, it was too damn cute and the iron shadow dragon couldn't stand it!

With that Gajeel walked forward, ahead of the other three who all nervously whispered behind him and he heard every word, though nothing of true consequence was said. He didn't say a word as he approached Mirajane waving a bit and she wordlessly guided the pairs off upstairs and let them into a private room with Makarov inside. Mira stood outside to guard the door and Makarov sighed, "Have you mentioned what you want to do to the others yet Gajeel?"

"Thought they'd listen more if I said it 'round you Master." Gajeel told the man respectfully and this earned him a nod of approval, "Right...let's start. The Master worked with me to get a pretty big place in Crocus...I think we oughta go and stay there for awhile. Now before you panic, no we ain't leaving Fairy Tail permanently, just for awhile...like a hiatus, so that Salamander and me can help train you ladies, as a safety precaution against..." He fell silent, not normally one for talking much and Makarov's voice quickly cut off the outraged responses that were gearing up; he could see it in his children's expressions.

"Now listen here you brats, it's a good idea, so nothing like that can happen to you two again...besides neither of you can stand the guild for too long...You were forced to stay the first day but we can see your discomfort in being here now and it hurts me to see you two so cautious of your own guild mates..." His reasoning was flawless, both girls knew it and were looking angrily at the ground in silence. Neither wanted to leave Fairy Tail at all, they both loved this place.

Pantherlily and Happy were the first to speak in protest though, "Now wait one minute!" cried Lily while staring in shock at his partner.

"You can't just expect us to leave Magnolia like that!" Happy jumped on what Lily had begun to say and both Exceed's were looking hurt.

That was when Levy's quiet voice reached the ears of all in the room, but...just barely, "Crocus is so far away though...is this...what you didn't want to let me see earlier Gajeel?" There was an accusatory tone to her voice and it pained him to hear that sort of tone directed at him, quickly forgetting; for now, the confession she had told him earlier.

"Yeah...it's also what I've been talking to Master Makarov about those times when you'd wake up to find me not near by. I slipped away to chat with him about it the first time shortly after Salamander left to go and rescue Lucy. Master only agreed to it two days ago, after we heard from Hibiki that Natsu had been successful in his rescue of Lucy and was on the way back home." He calmly stared at Levy who was now holding a shaking Bunny Girl's hand tightly.

What surprised Gajeel though and had his analyzing wine red eyes widening was her hazel eyes turning to lock onto him with determination, "I'm okay with this...I think it'll be good for us and Lulu's spirits can help too, she told me how Capricorn helped her before the games."

Before the iron shadow dragon could answer Levy though everyone quickly noticed Lucy was shaking like a leaf, "I...but-but....I've only been home a day! I don't..." Natsu took control in that moment, wrapping one arm around her to pull her away from Levy and hold her tight to his chest while the other lightly covered her wide brown eyes.

She gasped for air and squeezed the hand over her eyes, hyperventilating a bit, "Calm down Luce...It's okay. You'll be safe with me and after what you told me last night I'm not gonna leave your side." Gajeel watched this mildly curious but also worried; not that he would ever dare show it; but he felt a pang of pain for the panicked Celestial wizard.

After several minutes her panic attack finally settled down and Lucy mumbled her own answer, "Y-You're right...Natsu but swear you won't leave me alone! P-Please!"

"I swear Luce." That was all Makarov needed to hear and he then nodded at the black haired slayer, offering his approval.

Lily...Happy...You two ain't goin'. Yer gonna stay here with everyone else. Don't worry though, we'll be back as soon as we can but stay with the red headed demon and the freaky ice stripper until we get back," He explained this as Lucy disengaged herself from Natsu though she squeezed his sleeve a bit and stayed close to his side.

Lily was not happy at all with this decision however, "You can't just decide that on your own Gajeel! You're my partner!"

"I agree, Natsu! I'm your partner...aren't I? You can't just leave me here!" Happy added this loudly while almost nearly crying though he wasn't looking up from the ground, this made his wings and ears droop in sadness.

"It's a choice that I've made Happy, Pantherlily. It wasn't something that Gajeel wanted either but I said you couldn't go." Makarov spoke up silencing the two Exceeds and their attempts to protest, he was the Guildmater after all...they would listen without question.

The unhappy partners spoke in sync; surprisingly, "Fine...if you say so but be careful and don't let any harm come to the girls!"

"We won't," Natsu assured while he had been incredibly quiet, everyone was surprised that he seemed okay with leaving Fairy Tail for awhile, but he wasn't done talking about it so it seemed, "Look...I'm not thrilled with this plan, I don't want to go anywhere...but it's temporary right? Luce needs help so I'm more than willing to go off to Crocus with them, after all, Gramps worked to get us a place to stay...but why Crocus?"

Mirajane stepped into the room by this point and spoke up in place of Makarov, "I found the place and it's a good place to go because of the large library and various other training locations...and there's law enforcement always around."

Everyone knew why that was important and internally Gajeel sighed, "All right...well let's get goin' we need to catch the train today or we're waiting for three more days for the next one!" That's really sudden, he heard her voice in his head and nodded gruffly, "I know it's sudden but the sooner we start the sooner we can come home." Okay as you wish...are we just leaving, no packing? A thought prompts a verbal response from him, "Just get all your jewels you've saved up and we're outta here."

Lucy and Natsu glance at each other nervously before they look around the room and avoid eye contact for a minute, that is until a determined looking Salamander scoops Lucy up and runs off with her to wherever they needed to go. "We oughta get going too Gajeel." Levy stated plainly only to have him run behind her and pick her up carrying her off towards Fairy Hills.

Quickly he ducked Erza and uncaring toted Levy to her room where he placed her down as she went for a few of her books; damn there was a ton of tomes, where the hell did she sleep!? Then she moved away and ran to her bedroom; also filled with tomes then she dug around for her stash of jewels. Carefully he examined her up and down, not letting her hear the thoughts as he checked Levy out in silence. How was he supposed to control himself around her? Cute and small, all he wanted to do was protect her, now he had to be her teacher; man he didn't think this through at all did he? Then there's the confession to add to the pile as well, too much too fast. That's when she twitched sensing his stare and turned to give him a brilliant smile that made his heart race; by Mavis was he glad she didn't have his hearing! "I've got everything Gajeel, we need to get your things now right?"

"I already have mine, let's go Shrimp." Without waiting for permission he picked up the small blunette effortlessly once again and ran!  Erza was chasing him and he had to dodge one of her blades which made him run all the faster. Surprise nearly halted him though as Levy laughed loudly, slung over his shoulder, so he could run faster, "You feelin' all right Shrimp?"

Laughing still she answered breathlessly, "Better than fine, Gajeel! This is quite exciting actually." She shifted and was able to turn enough to kiss his cheek, "Thank you...for everything you've done for me. I mean that. Thank you so much!"

His face flamed as he slowed down finally and gulped a bit, why did she have to be so damn innocent and gorgeous all at once!? Nervous now he sets her down and stares at her with his usual scowl, "What are you thanking me for? I ain't done nothing special."

Levy looked down a bit, why was he scowling like that? Her cheeks puff up as she begins the usual way of pouting at him; which just made it all much harder for him to keep scowling; "Oi...What did I do wrong? No need to scowl at me you jerk! I'm just...happy that you're wiling to go so far to...help me..."

"It ain't that far..."

"You're dragging me and Lulu to Crocus, the capital to help train us. That's far!"

"Oi! Whatever! Think what you want Shrimp!" Her words struck him though and in his head he wanted to smile.

"Then smile!" Fuck...were his thoughts not in check? "Nope. So...smile. I wanna see it," She giggled at him and he couldn't help it, his lips twitched and he smiled for her, an honest smile surprisingly, "Whoa...You're so handsome with a smile..."

Levy stared at him wonder struck and her hazel eyes were glittering effectively making Gajeel's heart jump into his throat. "Quit talkin' nonsense, Shorty!" She merely giggled at him and he growled scooping her up quicker than she could blink, "Careful who you're laughing at bookworm..." He grinned at her blushing face and took a chance, "I may just turn that laughter into breathless panting."

He got the reaction he wanted, he face turned scarlet and she squeaked, "That's...No! Don't even think about it Gajeel! Don't you dare you hear me?!"

Still grinning like a cheshire cat he pressed his nose against her stomach, covered by the clothes he had picked for her and breathed deeply, taking in her addictive scent. She smelled of books and metallic ink, with a hint of vanilla bean ice cream and crushed blueberries mixed in, boy was he glad he could bury his nose in this smell whenever he wanted now, it had been driving him crazy for such a long time. He basked in the feeling of holding Levy like this until he picked up Salamander and Blondie's scent which made him quickly put the petite girl down, smiling at her once again before turning on his neutral mask of disinterest. "About time you two showed up." He told them as they approached.

"S-Sorry...I had to find my jewel stash...I hid it a little too well." Natsu rubbed the back of his head nervously before moving towards the train.

"The train bound for Crocus is now leaving, I repeat the train bound for Crocus is now leaving." The announcer said and the four companions kicked into high gear.

Man could their luck be any worse?! The four began running as fast as they could through the crowds, unfortunately Lucy stumbles and falls, which prompted Natsu to double back, sling her over his shoulder, and leap onto the back of the departing train where the raven haired man and the blunette waited anxiously for them to get to the train.

"T-Thank you Natsu...I was worried for a sec-" Lucy's thanks gets cut out as Natsu collapased onto the metal platform as the train moved. Lucy crashed onto him and squealed before scurrying off of the sick fire dragon slayer, "I'm so sorry, Natsu! I didn't mean to squish you!"

Gajeel was feeling the motion too and leaned heavily on Levy; who nearly collapsed under the weight, at least until he took a deep breath to try and prevent himself from collapsing fully on top of the small girl but her scent washed through his senses and he blinked several times feeling immediately steadied by the smell. What? He wasn't naseaous anymore. He stood up straight and spoke, "I'm feeling okay surprisingly. Let's haul Salamander inside."

Since he was surprisingly steady he easily dragged Natsu inside and waited for Lucy to sit down; once she was seated he lifted the pink haired mage and put his head on Lucy's lap. "Hey Gajeel! What the hell!? I don't want his puky ass all over me!"

"And I don't want him on the Shrimp." He grumbled and sat beside Levy turning his head and pulling her against his side before burying his nose in her hair. "Sorry Shrimp...but for some reason yer smell is keepin' me steady." He mumbled this into her mess of wild blue locks and relaxed holding her like that.

Levy blushed deeply and stared nervously at the suspicous look Lucy gave her, "Please...don't tell anyone else just yet Lulu..."

"I'm not telling anyone...we're going to be in Crocus for awhile anyway, so don't worry about it. He's good for you anyway." Lucy waved at hand at the pair while using her other hand to idly stroke Natsu's pink spiked hair.

"Hmph...dunno what planet you live on Bunny Girl but I ain't good for the Shrimp..." He grumbled this into her hair keeping his breathing even despite...the secondary effect of breathing her in like this.

"Say what you want Gajeel, but I have no objections to what Lulu said," Levy leans against the metal lunk head and giggles softly, "You're definitely something for me though and I'm leaning towards good."

"I swear...quit being embarrassing Shrimp! Blondie is snickering at us!" His heart was starting to beat too fast for his liking and Levy was silent. "Levy...?"

"She's asleep Gajeel. Relax and enjoy her company," Lucy whispered this quietly, gazing at Natsu with soft doe-like brown eyes while stroking his hair and that had him blinking several times. So Star Girl has the hots of hot head there huh?

"Gihihi....You too then, and you oughta be careful who you show those eyes to Star Girl, they can speak volumes," he smirked as Lucy turned red and threw a pen from her pocket at the red eyed snickering man.

"Shut up metal head!" She hissed quietly while glaring before returning her attention to Natsu in an effort to ignore the iron dragon's teasing.

As they sit there in silence now it's unexpected when Natsu rolls over and nuzzles his nose against Lucy's exposed stomach, "Mmph...Luce you smell really good..." He mumbled before going back to sleep rather peacefully and to Lucy he was just too cute at the moment so she turned her eyes away from the man sleeping on her lap.

"Hey....metal head, I'm going to take a nap, wake me up when we get there," Lucy grumbled before resting her Fairy Tail marked hand on Natsu's pink hair and drifting off.

That left Gajeel on his own, while he listened to them all snore softly which began to make him feel tired himself, he left himself drift into a light doze, his head falling to rest on top of Levy's head, her books, ink, vanilla, and blueberries scent keeping his motion sickness at bay, even as he drifted off he wondered why her smell soothed him...meh he'd question it later...maybe.


	7. Chapter 6 - Surpressed Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The train ride is annoying...but things seem to be going well...Unless something triggers the fear that keeps crippling the two girls.

Natsu stirred slightly as the train came to a stop, why wasn't he feeling naseaous? Mm....something smelled like strawberries...and a warm summer evening, that point at night when the stars are coming out but the sun is a brilliant red, yeah that was the image that appeared inside his head, and it seemed like a balance of something...but what? His eyes blink open as he began to fully awaken and found himself staring at pale smooth skin. The smell though...the brightness inside of whoever this was smelled different like heat and stars and leather, he tilted his head up to see who it was, he even had a little illusion of waking up in a bright clearing, with the sun still fairly yellow, all it honestly was though was the sunlight glinting off of Lucy's shiny blonde hair.

He grinned up at the dozing celestial mage, she's safe and with me, no need to worry so much right? He asked himself and without thinking he reached up to touch Lucy's face lightly, why had she smelled so nice and why wasn't he feeling motion sick? "Those bound for Crocus depart now, I repeat, we have arrived in Crocus." The announcer woman scared the hell out of Natsu and made him pull his hand back quickly.

Everyone was awake now and Natsu was sitting up grinning toothily, "Rise and shine! We're here you guys." He cheerfully stood up and walked off the train feeling great! Which was a surprise. His motion sickness had been solved, at least for this ride it seemed.

"Natsu! Wait up! How come you're not sick?" Lucy's voice reached him and he grinned shrugging at her as he sent a thought her way, don't know, but I'm not complaining. "Well you may not be complaining but I'm confused." Lucy pouted and glared at Natsu before her legs started shaking a bit but she made herself stay standing.

"Hey, I don't know okay? I really don't care honestly, anyway let me carry you." No thank you, you fire breathing menace! The thought strikes across his head and he narrowed his onyx eyes at Lucy, "First...don't call me that, it's mean. We're friends, aren't we? Lemme carry you Luce! Don't be stubborn." Her complaints echo in his head but he blocks them out as he picks her up again and keeps her close to him, princess style carrying her.

"Gihihihi..." Natsu heard Gajeel's creepy as hell snicker and turned around as the iron mage began to talk, "It seems they can do that too Shrimp."

"Do what?" The blunette asked turning her hazel gaze to Natsu and Lucy before blinking several times and face palming, "Oh...that! Hey Natsu, can you and Lucy hear each other's thoughts?"

The pair blink and lock eyes for a moment before Natsu grinned at the two behind them as they made their way through the streets, "How did you guess at that Lev'?" He shortened her name which quickly earned him a dangerous looking red eyed glare and he coughed quickly correcting himself, "I-I mean...Levy...Yeah Levy."

Gajeel snarled at the fire wizard his nostrils flaring a bit as he did so but Levy smacked him lightly on the arm and answered Natsu smiling brilliantly, "Well you see Gajeel and I can do that. From the conversation that you just had with yourself I put the pieces together and guessed that was what was going on. Connected the dots you could say, it's not hard, it's a really odd thing to have conversations that seem really one sided."

"So wait...you two can hear each other's thoughts as well? That's surprising...I wonder what triggered it though...?" Lucy said aloud as she began to think and arrived at a rather unhappy answer, "It's...because of what we went through I bet...Levy do you think we could be so stable right now without these two?" Lucy brought up a heavy topic and Natsu frowned narrowing his eyes at his blonde friend.

Levy bit her lip gently and pointedly pulled out a map to their new place to distract her head, they were getting closer...she guessed she should answer Lucy huh...? "I...I think....yeah without them we probably wouldn't be okay right now." The girl's had a moment in that instant and both began to smell heavily of fear causing the respective slayers to squeeze the women close in an effort to comfort them, but it seemed ineffective for the time being.

Gajeel decides to change the subject on them as they arrived at a rather large two story home. "H-Hey! Check this out, we're here!" He whistled a bit, "damn it's bigger than I thought and they freakin' bought this place? Well at least Fairy Tail owns it and it's not rented so all we need to worry about is getting food." That...didn't seem to help any, both girls were looking forlorn and lost still.

Natsu sighs a bit as the iron shadow dragon steps forward and pulls a key from his pocket to unlock the front door, then he and Natsu lead the lost looking girls inside. Surprisingly Natsu was being observant for once and was looking all around the rather large home. It was done in cool colors and complimented by splashes of white here and there. The walls were done up in a deep blue with white lilies decorating the walls giving it a very feminine quality, damn he hoped a little that the rooms were at least a little more suited to someone who wasn't a chick; not that he minded, nor did he really believe the rooms would be, Mirajane had found the house right? The place looked amazing though and on top of the colors the floors were wooden, occasionally covered by a white rug; and they were cherry wood colored. He liked it, it felt homey though Natsu himself preferred greens and browns.

He gives Lucy a little nudge, "Hey...let's check out the rooms, Mira said they're upstairs right? Come on Luce." He leads his friend off and up the steps watching her with a worried expression while out of the corner of his eye he barely made a note that Gajeel was doing the same thing to Levy. Lucy had all Natsu's attention, she still smelled of fear...and hate. He didn't like the way it over powered her strawberries and warm summer evening smell. "Luce, if you've got something on your mind talk to me okay? That's what I'm here for right now."

She blinked and glanced up with wide fear filled doe eyes before her breaths came in short pants as she tried to block out the memories that she had told him about before. By Mavis he wanted to kill those bastards for what they'd done so his hands turn to fists at his side as he remembered causing a deep growl to start in his chest; that is until Lucy flings herself at him and almost instantly cuts off his deep chested grumble. "I-I'm sorry...I just...I can't...I can't handle all of this right now! I want to forget...I wanna forget what happened but I can't and it terrifies me!"

He didn't want Gajeel to overhear Lucy's cries so without thinking he grabbed her and spun her into the first door on the left of the upstairs, pulling Lucy into a bedroom decorated similarly to downstairs. Now that they were in private he gripped her tightly and pulled her over to the bed where he pulled her down onto the dark colored duvet and hugged her with his eyes closed and his nose buried in her blonde hair. "It's okay, I swear nothing like that is ever going to happen to you again. You or Levy, neither of you! I swear it! Believe in me and Gajeel, we won't let it...that's a vow, a promise."

She cried for the millionth time in three days...she cried with her head against his chest, buried in his shirt but he didn't care, no he was too angry at all that had happened to her to care about the salty smell of her tears and the overwhelming smell of fear. Somewhere in his head he wondered how Levy was recovering from the ordeal, something told him she wasn't doing as well as she acted like she was. That's when his dragon kicked into gear, who cares about Levy? Look at Lucy! Our woman has been damaged nearly beyond repair! Wait...their woman? What? No. His friend, his dearest friend and best friend...that smelled like heaven and...peace. He shut down his thoughts almost immediately, he wasn't viewing her in anyway other than as a friend, was he? "N-Natsu...?"

"Yeah Luce?"

"You're growling...are you okay?" Her brown eyes turned to him with concern and tears filling them and in that instant even his normally dense ass head realized what was going on with him. When had he started feeling this way?! "N-Natsu?! W-What do you mean? What way...?" Panic had started setting in her chest, what if she was just being a burden to him?

Shit shit shit...get that head under control man! He scolded himself before managing to grin at the still teary eyed Lucy, "What are you talking about Luce?"

"Don't play dumb with me! A-Am...I...am I becoming a burden to you?" That screeched his desperate attempt to control his thougths to a halt. "I-I'm so sorry...I don't....I'm so sorry!"

"It's not like that! it's definitely not like that, Lucy!"

"B-But...then what is it?" She was crying anew again and his panicked mind did the first thing that he thought about. He grabbed her as she was about to pull away, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted his head to kiss her. She tensed up in his grasp as the panic resumed anew in his chest...until she slowly relaxed and amazingly returned his kiss, her tears drying up quickly. They had been close before all these awful things had happened, she was the person he brought to the guild, the person he paired up with more than anyone, the person who made fire taste like ash in his mouth, her missing for that month had caused him to realize what was wrong with him.

Breathing became a neccessity eventually and he broke the kiss staring into her bright eyes nervously, she was silent and that had Natsu's heart beating a staccato in his cheset, "Luce...you're not...angry are you?"

She laughed, the first time she had smiled or laughed in what he assumed was a month's time, "angry? How could I be angry at you? I...I love you Natsu you idiot! I haven't felt so light in awhile. I'm...happy." Unlike Levy and Gajeel who hadn't been close until Tenrou Island, they had been close for so long now that she was able to readily speak her mind and feelings to Natsu, maybe her heart would be able to heal a little faster now.

She loved him? She loved him!? He didn't know if he should laugh or what, he was confused, normally he was dense, very much so, but damn, that month had to have screwed with his head, but he didn't care. She loved him! Childishly he grinned, jumped up with her in his arms and spun her around. He had made her happy, his mate was happy. That thought made him blink. "Mate?" The pair asked together and Natsu gulped, crap...that was why her smell had kept his motion sickness at bay. He recalled what Igneel had told him about Dragon Slayer's chosen mate and...he blushed which made Lucy stare at him in disbelief.

"Na-Natsu...are you okay?"

"Better than okay, you're my mate...Igneel told me a lout about what happens with mates..." Still nervous he scratched his cheek gently and looked down embarrassed before sitting them back down on the bed.

"Well explain to me what...that sort of thing entails." She was curious, she wanted to know all about it, since Natsu was the person dearest to her.

"Ah...well...ugh...apparently there's a lot of things that can happen. Like your smell will keep me from getting sick on trains and things, also...um you might happen to have a dragon outline on your wrist now...actually lemme check." He picked up her hand that was marked with Fairy Tail's symbol, feeling...romantic he kissed the mark being rewarded with her blush before turning her wrist over and taking a sharp intake of breath in. She did have it...a dragon outlined in flames on her wrist, so Natsu turned his own hand over now and showed her his mark, it was a deep navy blue speckled with silver, a representation of her magic. The magic of stars...and she was the only star in his eye now. "See? I have one too...Oh crap but...if I...don't totally claim you...in the next week or so..." He coughed and muttered the last bit of it, "It'll probably fade away..." That stung him more than he would admit but she had felt the sting and herh and instantly rose to touch his cheek gently.

"I see, don't worry. Whatever that means I'm sure I can handle it." His red face a touch of trepidation filling her chest though, "What does it mean?"

"Uhhhhhh...." He didn't answer and instead opted to look around nervously. Natsu? "Ugh...mating!" That doesn't clear up what you mean, she narrowed her eyes at him and he couldn't take it, those doe like eyes of hers were too damn cute for her own good! So he had to answer her, he twirled her around and pinned her down staring nervously, "It means...having sex."

Wide eyed she squeaks and turns a hundred shades of red staring nervously up at the fiery man pinning her down. "Oooh...You mean that...as in that thing...? As in the thing married couples do on their wedding night? Oh no...ummmm....I-I mean...AH!" She wasn't struggling against his grip though and instead kept her eyes on his deep black ones breathing nervously. So fast. Everything was happening quickly and if she wanted to keep his flaming dragon mark; which mind you she wanted desperately to keep it; she needed to prepare to give her chastity away to him, but...she loved him so much, it was okay right?

Natsu laid on top of her for a bit and pressed his nose against her neck breathing in the smell, he was glad the fear was gone and he thought about what she had said, "If you...decide that's something you want don't worry, I wouldn't ever hurt you, but know what you're signing up for before you answer me. You'll be stuck with me forever at that point...no going back and I'll tear about whoever tries to take you from me. In other words...I love you too Luce."

Bang bang bang!! "Salamander! We gotta go fetch food! You and Blondie gonna come or not? If you don't we won't get anything you like!" Gajeel's voice broke the moment in an instant and Natsu laughed while Lucy smiled at him.

"We're coming just a second!" They answered in unison and blinked before laughing again. She felt way better, as long as Natsu was with her she would never be scared again and she knew this to be a fact.

"I swear if you two are doin' the nasty and I smell it...I'm gonna kick ya both onto the street!"

"Gajeel! That's horrible! You will do NO such thing you hear me?!" Levy's shrill yell echoed into the room from behind the door and the smack placed on the iron dragon was heard through the door as well, ouch she must have hit him pretty hard...now hopefully she didn't hurt her hand. 

"Ow ow ow! Shrimp! Quit it! T-That hurts!" Heavy steps can be heard quickly taking off away from the door and both Natsu and Lucy roll their eyes before disengaging themselves and getting up.

Lucy examines herself in the full length mirror in the room and sighs in relief, she looked good, didn't look a mess or anything despite what she and Natsu had been doing. She really felt relieved and Natsu could feel it too, he was much happier now that she felt safe again. "Come on Luce. Let's go help get groceries, I'm sure Levy and screws for brains are done with waiting."

The stellar spirit mage nods at him and shyly takes his hand in hers, her right hand grasped in his and their marks resonate with each other a little bit, their new marks...the dragon's upon their wrists glowed softly as the two walked out of the room and made their way down the steps. Natsu grinned feeling empowered simply from holding Lucy's hand and it apparently affected Lucy as well because she was smiling brightly at the two waiting by the door. "Sorry it took us a minute. I was trying to figure something out. Oh yeah! How about when we get back I call up Capricorn and we start making training plans?"

"That sounds like a great idea Lulu." Levy said while staying near Gajeel though she was eyeing her best friend suspiciously since she was holding Natsu's hand, "Is your boyfriend gonna be able to have the guts to actually fight and train you though?"

"W-What about yours?! don't think I didn't notice!" The two young men turn red faced as their women laugh at the silly little bickering and they shake their heads keeping quiet obviously knowing better than to get in between the two women's teasing of each other; after all...both of them were smiling and the fear that had gripped them was gone leaving their natural smells unaffected by any upsetting emotions; which was exactly what their respective slayers wanted.


	8. Chapter 7 - Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the start of training for the girls and boy is it a rough start...Here's hoping they can make it. Once they make it Natsu chooses this time to start putting the first moves on Lucy...but will it prove to be too fast?

Lucy stood panting in a brightly lit clearing, Levy facing off against her as the two women forced themselves to view their best friend as an opponent. This had taken nearly all morning as the two dragon slayers had tried to convince the girls that their best bet at slowly improving in certain skills was to train against each other, the two men were trained in hand to hand combat better than these two after all; and truthfully neither wanted to fight the woman they liked. Lucy was Natsu's mate after all, that thought distracted her enough that Levy was able to make a dash for her busty blonde friend as Gajeel stared intently at Levy's back. Their Telepathy was proving to be a good training tool, letting the two speak into their heads and guide them. She's swinging on your left Luce, Natsu's voice echoed in her head as she snapped to attention and quickly swung her hand down to try and knock Levy off but at the last second she had switched sides and had jumped off the ground spinning and landing a kick on Lucy's side. "Ah!" Lucy yelped as she was flung to the side more out of surprise than pain and as she struggled to her feet she growled at Levy, "I'm gonna get you back for that tiny chest!"

Levy gaped in shock for a moment getting caught off guard as Lucy rushed her; thankfully she was communicating with Gajeel through their connection and he warned her of what Lucy was up to; these two had a small advantage as their Telepathic connection was stronger than Natsu and Lucy's , mostly due to the fact this was the sixth day the pair had been together since Levy returned from hell on Earthland, but this was also vice versa, Lucy and Natsu had an advantage over these two as they were mates, and it seemed like his fiery strength helped to goad Lucy on as she charaged the blunette and swung a fist at her best friend, but because of the warning Gajeel had given Levy, the smaller girl was prepared for the attack and in an instant Levy had blocked the attack, caught Lucy's wrist and used her own momentum against the taller girl, spinning her away from herself. "Nice try Lulu, but you're not as fast as I am, remember Jet was one of my partners."

"How the hell are you able to fight me so easily?! Aren't we best friends?" Lucy wasn't really hurt but maybe she could catch Levy off guard with a little act, this time it worked.

"Ah of course we're friends!" Don't get distracted Squirt! Gajeel warned but his voice came too late as Lucy was on Levy in an instant knocking the much smaller girl onto her back with one of her famous 'Lucy Kicks' and even went so fast as to land on her friend and sit on top of the blunette grinning. "Ugh I'm gonna get you back for that one Lulu!" Levy yelled and was tempted to use her magic but recalled that both Gajeel and Natsu had agreed that magic would  be forbidden when it came to the combat training. Instead she 'tched' much like the iron shadow dragon normally did and bucked under the weight of Lucy. "You're freakin' heavy get off!" Levy shoved Lucy who was stunned by the 'heavy' comment and Levy used that to her advantage quickly gripping Lucy's shoulder and pulls herself up by pushing Lucy to ghe ground by her shoulder and managed to shove her face nearly in the dirt. Once her feet were under her again, she dashed away from her blonde friend and giggled until a spark of pain lanced through her back and she froze for an instant as she realized that kick of Lucy's had hurt her more than she had thought.

"Gotcha!" she was after Levy again instantly and the bookworm couldn't do anything to defend against Lucy's attack, which effectively had the girl on her back once again looking dizzy and tired.

"Enough!" Natsu and Gajeel called this together and made the two girls blink at each other before turning to the iron and fire slayers. "It's only the first day, we can't have you two beatin' each other to a pulp just yet. The soreness will kick in soon and you both still have meditating to do with Capricorn." The iron dragon's rough voice cut through them before he went over and helped Levy to her feet while Natsu patted Lucy on the back grinning goofily.

"You two were great! It was interesting to watch! Loke'll be training with you two tomorrow, two vs one style. For now you two should get back to the house and clean up before coming back to do the meditating. Let's get going." Natsu chimed as he led Lucy through the trees until they arrived at the edge of Crocus and began the half hour long trek back home; they were glad for the closeness to the surrounded forested area, they couldn't exactly teach the girls in the house after all.

The house though...ugh Lucy thought it was gorgeous, she loved it's modern design but had a small problem with the number of bedrooms. It was a big house with an attic and a basement and a decent sized kitchen and dining room as well, but for some awful reason there were only two bedrooms! Not that Lucy herself minded much honestly, it was Levy she was worried about, the blunette had been a blubbering, stuttering mess when they'd discovered this but Gajeel had been kind and took to sleeping on the floor in front of the door; at least that's where Lucy found him this morning, early as hell, when she'd woken up from her nightmare to get a drink of water she had spotted him laying down in front of Levy's door like a guard dog, though Lucy was almost certain that he had been faking it, after all she had woken with yells of terror but Natsu was forever aware of her problems and had come to her side instantly. After she got her water and calmed down she blabbed about the nightmare while crying which caused the fire dragon to grip her tightly and lay down with her. In tears and hiccups she had fallen back to sleep like that, calmed by his warmth and radiating care. Remembering that had her blushing as they walked back into their home for now and the girls separated from their fellows into the two full baths that were in the house. Mira had literally thought of nearly everything when finding the place apparently. thinking about her guild mates she smiled slightly and glanced at her unmarked hand, a tiny wave of sadness settling into her chest, it had taken a day for the marks to fade frmo their bodies, since they had technically quit Fairy Tail; even if only temporarily.

She stares at the blank hand for only a moment before turning her hand over and smiling softly, the mate mark on her wrist made up for missing her Fairy tail mark, at least for now. Though she had to wonder how Levy and Gajeel were dealing with it, they didn't have this mark like Lucy and Natsu. Siging she sinks her aching body into hot water and washes up while she thinks, her mind wandering to everything from how her spirits were doing to looking forward to meditating with Capricorn his afternoon. What surprised her was when she heard a soft click that startled her out of her dazed haze, she had almost been asleep but then Natsu's voice reached her, "Hey Luce...You feeling okay after that?" He sounded concerned but Lucy was blushing darkly as she sunk further into the water to hide her body under the bubbles, she'd nearly been asleep in the bath, she must have been tired from that nightmare.

"U-Um...y-yeah...I'm fine Natsu...I-I guess. H-Hey you can't...just come in here suddenly like that you know...?"

"Ah sorry...I-I...guess I didn't think about it, I can go if you want me to, Levy is sort of napping at the moment anyway." It surprised Lucy how quiet Natsu was being, he was normally loud and rambuncious but...he seemed honestly nervous about being in the room where Lucy was bathing...but she was nervous as well with him being so close to here while she was naked, she would have to get over this wouldn't she? She still wasn't sure about commiting her whole life to being with Natsu yet but...she had to make up her mind. She decides to be a little brave and gulps before glancing over the edge of the tall tub and blushing as she waves for him to come over. "W-What d-do you mean?"

"You haven't showered in like four days..." Taking a deep breath Lucy stands up and drains the tub, thankfully this had both a tub and a tiled floor bathing area with two stools set up in the bath, she doesn't dare look at Natsu though and sits down on a stool with her soapy hair and held up a sponge. "a-and...I can't reach my back...could you help?" Lucy hears him gulp behind her but still doesn't look at him, only daring to peek when she hears his clothes rustling to the floor.

She was used to seeing his bare chest, that didn't make her nervous, it was the fact he lacked pants and undewear this time around that had her gulping nervously while peering at him...it probably didn't help that she was only covered by the suds from her bath. Turning her eyes away she listens to him take a deep breath and approach her from behind, "Are you sure you want my help...? Who knows what I might do you know?" I trust you...reached his thoughts and he nodded before pulling the other stool up behind Lucy and taking the sudsy sponge from Lucy and started gently washing her shoulders and back. This gave him a good view of her; he'd seen her naked during the battles with the dragons, had even touched her but it was different for him when she asked for his help. Her skin was softer than he rememebered, "You're so pale...and really soft...s-sorry...do you mind if I explore a little?"

"G-Go ahead just be gentle on me okay?" As if I'd ever be rough with you, was the thought invoked response that made Lucy's heart skip a beat which Natsu heard and for some reason it really satisfied him that he could make her react that way. Compared to Lucy's own softer skin she could feel the difference in thier skin textures immediately, his hands were rough, hands made for fighting, defending people, she liked the way they felt as he took the sponge and let his hands roam over her body, he would touch certain spots that proved to make her shiver but otherwise was silent while letting him explore. It took him awhile but he had avoided touching her chest most of his explorations had just been almost natural touches as he washed her body for her. Her voice came out as a gasp when Natsu set the sponge down and slowly reached up to touch her breasts giving them a gentle squeeze, "ah...r-remember...be careful...P-Please!" She eeped out the last bit because he had pinched her peach colored nipples lightly, slight panic set in though when he did that and he had sensed the change instantly.

"L-Luce! I-I didn't hurt you did I?" He gasped in panic and immediately hugged her tightly, she shakes her head at him though and that confuses him quickly, "T-Then why did you get freaked out? I-I didn't mean to scare you...or seem like...I-I was...oh boy...I was being exactly perverted but I wasn't trying to force it on you!"

"Natsu it's not that...I think I'm just really tired..."

"I-I see...t-then do you want to take a nap on my lap too?" He asked before getting up quickly and washing his own body rather fast and wrapping a towel around his waist before turning to Lucy who was staring at him with a blush.

"W-What do you mean too?" She asks as she rinses off and slowly stands up trying to ignore the uncomfortable heat that had started to pool inside her body from the attention earlier. She dried off and pulled some clean clothes on before opening the bathroom door and glancing at Natsu as he gestured down the steps. Curious Lucy peeked over the edge of the steps to spot Gajeel sitting on the couch with a stretched out and clean Levy resting her head on his lap while she was in a peaceful and deep sleep, but the most surprising thing was the look she saw on Gajeel's face. Soft and caring, she snickered softly and sat up, "Oh I see. Well I won't bug them right now. I...I'm really tired though so maybe we should take a nap too. Horologium can wake us up in a little while. Could you do that for me Horologium?" A soft warm glow in her pocket is her asnwer and she smiled before taking Natsu's hand and pulling him into the bedroom that Lucy was more than willing to share with him. She then pulls him down onto the comfy mattress and cuddles up to him. "Sorry if I'm being...clingy. I'm just really tired and I can't sleep without you near by; not peacefully anyway. No matter what I do alone the nightmares come...I can't stand it."

Natsu kindly places his hand on the back of her head, switching over from what he was doing earlier to 'caring boyfriend' mode while he presses her to his chest. "Yeah I haven't been feeling too great either honestly. I've had the guild mark so long that it hurt when it came off last night, but you were screaming so I quickly forgot about it. It's still a dull ache though and I'm sure Levy's feeling the same way. Not trying to be offensive or anythin' it's just...we've had our marks so long, you know?" Lucy frowned and nodded against his chest. "H-Hey...I didn't...upset you did I?"

"No no! I'll be fine, I was just thinking that it's going to be hard for us to find work...but maybe we'll be lucky and it won't be since we aren't all by ourselves." Lucy yawns a bit as she lets her mind wander and finally begins to doze off while resting against Natsu's warmth. The nap was a good idea because when Horologium came and woke them up Lucy was feeling really refreshed and cheerful so she hops out of bed after giving Natsu a shake; who senses his mate's presence getting further away from him which forces him awake anyway. Lucy then walks downstairs quietly to find their house mates dozing on the couch still in the same position they had been in before, except that Gajeel's hand was subconciously stroking Levy's blue hair. "Hey Levy, Gajeel," She calls in a gentle sing-song voice, "Time to get up, we have to go meet Capricorn...are you and Natsu going to meditate with us as well? 

Natsu groaned as he stretched behind Lucy and this made the blonde turn around as he answered, "Well...I can try. I'm not good at the whole peaceful thing..." He rubbed the back of his neck as Gajeel woke up and sent a red eyed glare at him. "What the hell is that look for metal head?"

"You ain't capable of doing the peaceful thing at all, that's what and if you screw up Lucy and Levy's training I'm gonna have yer head." He sounded pissed but...well he tended not to be a happy camper when he was just woken up. Until he happens to look at a still dozing Levy, "Hey Shrimp...time to wake up." He stared at her as she stirred and gave him a dopey half asleep smile that made his heart skip several beats and he leaned down to whisper something in Levy's ear that even Natsu couldn't hear; which was really surprising.

Levy's sudden giggle has her pink and blonde haired friends blinking in confusion, "No, I"m fine Gajeel, the physical training is hard on me but...well I'll just get stronger by doing it right? Anyway come on let's go!" she was up and moving into the kitchen where she began making sandwiches for everyone. "We oughta eat before we go, I'm personally rather hungry."

"That's true." Lucy responded as her stromach growled softly and made Natsu snicker, "Q-Quit laughing at me Natsu! You weren't the one fighting with Levy!."

"Right but eventually you two are going to match each other and when that happens metal head and I are gonna have to take over the hand to hand combat training alongside Loke, there's also what Capricorn talked about. Needing for you and me, as well as Gajeel and Levy to get in better sync with each other. So on top of that you're eventually gonna have to fight both of them while working with me," Everyone blinked in surprise as Natsu remembered what Capricorn had told them last evening over dinner. They'd all thought he wasn't paying attention! "What'er those looks for...?"

"Holy hell...Salamander isn't stupid it seems."

"No, he's really not Gajeel...I mean...he did kick your ass that one time."

"Don't remind him or else they may up our training a little too fast Levy! What if we have to fight them instead of Loke tomorrow?!" Lucy cried this out as the tree conversed and Natsu pouted slightly crossing his arms over his chest and growling a bit.

"You guys have no faith in me! If it's for Luce than I was definitely paying attention. I can't help it that I get bored easily," He grumbled and Lucy couldn't help but laught at his pouting expression. It was cute and very much reminded her of a spoiled child which just made her laugh harder. "L-Luce! What are you laughing at!?"

"You." She responds honestly and hands the two slayers a sandwich each; well more like shoves Natsu's sandwich in his mouth to stop him from retorting while Gajeel is busy glaring at Levy who squeaks and takes a bit out of her own lunch with her hazel eyes cast down. "I told you not to remind him Levy, it's all your fault if we have to fight them tomorrow."

"I'm sorry!" She yelped out before quickly trying to finish her food and moved for the door; though Gajeel was quickly following her and picked her up with a smirk. "Oh no...G-Gajeel! What are you plotting?!"

"You'll have to wait and see. Time to leave. We have things to do." That didn't bode well for Levy at all but Lucy was snickering softly alongside Natsu.

With a roll of her eyes the blonde heads out the door giving Gajeel's shin a light kick as she passes, "Drop her and let's go." After they all leave Lucy locks the house up and starts the trek back to the clearing in which she had fought Levy not too long ago. When they arrive Capricorn; coming through the gate on his own magic; was standing in the clearing staring intently at the group of four in front of him. "Hello Caprico. Nice to see you."

"You as well Lady Lucy. We are beginning right away." With that the goat man sits on the ground and instructs the four on how to find their magical center. Lucy and Levy almost instantly latch onto their magic vessel and Lucy focuses on the sounds around her, blocking out Natsu and Gajeel's complaints about not understanding it, the birds chirping and the wind blowing, and more pleasantly the sound of her own steady breathing. She didn't know how long she did this, only noting that she felt light and aware of every little sound, she found that the slayers were now quiet, sensed their magic coming off of them in waves, and also sensing Levy's magic as well.

The cold is what woke Lucy from her meditating and she found Loke and Capricorn chatting animatedly before noticing Lucy was once again back in the land of the living. "Princess, it's good to see you took to it so easily. Since you're magic is already fairly strong this training will probably be easiest for you. Look at your friends though." Loke spoke to her smiling as Lucy turned to look at the other three around her. Each one was floating in a magic circle, Natsu was surrounded by red and flames in a magic circle that resembled the circle when he roared and it surprised Lucy that he was even able to calm down enough to...meditate, peacefully. Gajeel was in a similar situation, a green circle under him as his body had taken on the Iron Dragon's Scales, such a change from the usually hectic man that he usually is and it was a welcome change. Finally she turns to see Levy, only to be surprised by the shape and look of the magic circle beneathe her best friend, she wouldn't say anything about it though, that just meant that Levy's potential was much higher than everyone had originally thought. Levy was however surrounded by words written in various languages, proof of the depth of her knowledge. That was when a whistle interrupted her thoughts and Lucy turned to see Gajeel out of his magical state as well.

"Damn..." He grinned widely, proudly and did his classic gihihi laugh before smirking, "I knew she was smart but hell to think she has the potential to learn that, can't wait until this starts to really improve on you two." He cracked his knuckles as Natsu fell from his circle of red and fire.

The pink haired slayer rushed over to Lucy and picked her up spinning and smiling, "You know you're freakin' amazing Luce!"

"What are you talking about Natsu?"

"After you started glowing and floating in this weird golden light I was able to calm down, it was so amazing to visibly see the bonds you have with your spirits! Literally Gajeel and I saw it, fifteen binding golden lights, it was really pretty...Just like you!" Natsu explained and Lucy turned red faced.

"This is the only time I'm ever admittin' this but Salamander is right. It was pretty amazing Star Girl." Gajeel rubbed the back of his head looking away as he dared to compliment his room mate and comrade.

"Aww, too bad I couldn't see it Lulu. I would have liked to...it was hard to find my center at first but I think I can do it easily now," Levy spoke up now as she stretched from her cross legged position and she smiled at the people around her, "I could sense everyone's magic after awhile...It was interesting to say the least!"

"You two did well, but now...Princesses you had best prepare for tomorrow. I'm an expert hand to hand combatant and from the look that Gajeel is giving me...you might end up in a little hot water...I'm off Lucy, see you tomorrow morning." With that phrase and a wave Loke vanished back to the Celestial World while Levy eyed Gajeel who was smirking at her.

"You're really gonna do that?! Look I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you mad!" Levy cried this and all Gajeel could do was snicker at her, she was cute when she was panicked.

Lucy rolls her eyes at the two and starts dragging Natsu away by his scarf, "Come on Natsu, let's go get a bite to eat or do something..."

"W-What do you mean do something?!" His face was red as Lucy dragged him away, his mind was definitely not on what Lucy's was, since he was blushing and sort of fighting with her but not really at the same time.

This just makes his blonde mate roll her eyes at him, "I'm still energized from that nap...and I want you to myself for the rest of the evening..." She shyly mumbles this and eyes Natsu rubbing the little mark on his wrist that echoed her own save the color. "That's okay right? We're mates after all..."

"O-Of course! S-So it's like a date...?"

"Is that what you want it to be?"

Brown eyes lock onto his black ones and he can't help but stare into the warm color before smiling broadly, "Yeah and hey we're all cleaned up already, the meditating didn't cause any problems to our appearances so we can do what ever you wanna do, okay Luce?" In response Lucy smiles brilliantly at Natsu making him blush as she tackles him and gives him a sweet kiss that automatically had Natsu wrapping his arms around Lucy with a grin. When she pulls back he just grins and the two take off to explore Crocus more thoroughly than before, after all they weren't here for a tournament, they lived here, for now and it was proving to be a great decision so far.


	9. Chapter 8 - Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training is going well; at least as well as it can go considering the changes that have been made. Of course Lucy and Levy fight hard and work hard! Time to discover a few secrets and fun facts about the people involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah um...this one is a little graphic...so you have been warned. I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me! There's a reason it's called "Recovering Romance" I'm so sorry! I cried while thinking all of this up so I didn't wanna do it!

The last three days had been hell. that first day after she had accidentally made Gajeel mad at her, both he and Natsu had taken to fighting alongside Loke to push the girls harder. Levy's muscles ached as she stood beside Lucy supporting her blonde friend who was gasping from the jab that Loke had landed upon her stomach. The Lion spirit had knocked the air out of her and there was a tiny spark of anger racing through Levy's nerves. Natsu and Gajeel were on either side of the girls as well. They couldn't use magic...well they could but it was forbidden at least they were starting to learn the way these three moved, three vs two...so unfair. Lucy's gasping stopped and Levy released her friend preparing as Natsu charged her, he was fast and the blunette was tired but determined Lucy and Levy were more in sync than they were with their telepathic partner at this point and this caused the pair to raise their arms together to block the right swing that he was throwing at the two, blocking the blo even though the girls were pushed back, "T-This is....hard, isn't it Lulu?"

"Yeah...but we're learning their partterns...They use the same ones and I think they do it on purpose, to give us the change to learn. Gajeel will come next and Loke'll be right behind him...Let's see if we can stop'em this time." Lucy mumbled against Levy's ear as the girls were still close together. They needed to figure out how to stop these attacks from chaining together so well and Levy's mind was racing until Lucy gasped against her ear, "I have an idea...follow my lead."

Just as she said this Lucy moved in front of Levy as the iron dragon came at them and moved quickly with a left swing that had the blonde raising her leg to block the blow, then used that leg to catch his wrist and knock him down to the ground but his other hand hit the ground and he used that as leverage to toss his own kick at Lucy's side but Levy was there instantly blocking the kick while Lucy smiled and moved around to land a blow on Gajeel's shoulder that sent him away from the pair of girls. Levy wasn't strong enough to toss anyone other than Lucy and eventually she hoped; but doubted; she would get strong enough to toss at least Natsu but for now they needed to prepare for Loke's assault, but things had changed a bit, it was a combination of Natsu and Loke charging the girls...Fire and Regulus lighting up their hands. Oh that was so unfair...Levy's eyes narrowed to slits, the rules were broken now, time to fight back fully this time! Levy and Lucy would fight fire with fire; well...so to speak, they may have been given rules but those were broken now. It's startling as the girl's don't use magic to defend themselves but the two men follow through with their attacks, Loke's Regulus magic collides with Lucy and sends her flying back while the fire hits Levy who lands hard on the ground a good twenty feet away from their attackers. Levy coughs slightly as she sits up and pants, "That...was a dirty trick you assholes..."

"You're gonna regret that..."

The girls take hands and sigh as they work to their feet while the three fellows now gather together, they looked ready for what was to come until they noticed the cycle of magic that was lace between them, they were blending the light of their magic, allowing them to tap into the element of light through this connection they now shared and the swirl of gold entranced the three men, as they watch enraptured the girls' hands and feet light up with the magic and feeling somewhat more confident the pair let go and rush their teachers. "Light of..."

"The stars!"

"And knowledge! Grant us..."

"Strength!" The two scream together at the same time and began a quick dance with the three, it was a flurry of hard to follow punches and kicks that they were attempting to use to push them back. The kicks were slow, dealt more damage as they landed on each of the three men who were now mostly in shock and struggling to block the suddenly energized friends, the punchers were meant to unbalance them as they tried to avoid blows which left them open for the light enhanced kicks; though the punches hurt too when they landed. Panting and exhausted they somehow managed to knock down Natsu, Loke, and Gajeel, even giving them a few nasty bruises.

Gajeel grinned like a maniac, Levy had knocked him down, yes very specifically Levy had knocked him on his ass good and hard, he'd have a bruise on his side to prove it too. The cute blunette looked ragged and her panting breaths reminded him of a little hellion warrior...his little hellion warrior. They were fast learners but had also been training to exhaustion the past three days. Red eyes meet hazel ones and Levy stares into those red eyes triumphantly before the pretty eyes flutter shut and she falls forward feeling herself land in his strong arms she let her hand hang and goes limp, feeling as safe as she always did with Gajeel.

"You did damn good Shrimp...Let's get you home and you can rest. Hell even better I'll take you to the library, we're supposed to meet Hibiki there today and I nearly forgot all about that." That was all Levy heard before everything faded to black and silence. She only felt hot powerful arms carrying her, keeping her safe.

\-------------------------------------------------------

He wasn't near by...she immediately realized this as a nightmare began to play in Levy's head while her back ached; whenever he was around even where her mark had come off didn't hurt anymore; but he wasn't here right now. That's when the memory plays inside Levy's head, leaving her unable to wake up.

Pain was the first sensation she felt in this nightmare, the second followed by fear as her eyes; in the nightmare; opened to pure darkness, she was blindfolded and they had her connected to some strange machine that began sapping her of her magic energy. That wasn't all she was put through though, no she was made to feel physical pain as well; lots of it. The crack of a whip in her dreams idicated the start of her whimpering in the waking world and it continued, she was being tortured, sapped of her magical strength, and all around put through hell. The nightmare turned worse when she found herself on the cold dirt floor and found herself trapped in those magic sealing cuffs, when someone touches her thigh in the nightmare though she screams to life in the real world screaming for Gajeel just as her voice had echoed out in the dream at the same time.

Now Levy was sitting up panting heavily from the nightmare; he hadn't heard her and she was hurting so badly that reality and nightmare were mixing together, she didn't know if the past eight days had been a dream or reality; fearing the worst she attempts to stumble around as her mind begins to unfog, she fell of a comfortable bed and onto a wooden floor where she quickly began crying in relief. She was still in Crocus, safe even if not completely sound. Then there was banging on her locked door and Levy coughed as she forced her voice steady, "Yes?"

"Don't 'yes' me Levy! I heard you scream!" It was Natsu's voice and she could sense Lucy's starry magic right behind him.

"I-I'm fine...Just...leave me alone..." She muttered and climbed back into her bed to cry by herself.

"Ugh! I'm going to get Gajeel! He went to bring Hibiki here and I'm dragging him back with or without the Archive user! Lucy...watch over Levy will ya? Actually...could you call one of your spirits to watch over both of you?" Levy heard the discussion outside her door, Lucy didn't sound comfortable with him leaving the two alone either but eventually conceded after a bit of arguing and called out Taurus while sitting outside Levy's door. "I'll be back in a flash I swear Luce... you too Levy, don't do anything drastic..."

The steps ran away and Levy cried more fully while Lucy talked to her through the door, "It was one of those nightmares wasn't it? I've been having them too Levy...I understand what's wrong. Could you let me in maybe?"

"No!" The blunette hiccuped out the answer and cried loudly by herself.

"Levy..." Lucy droops outside the door and presses her knees to her chest resting her head on her knees as Taurus silently stood guard, being very careful and aware of Lucy's and Miss Levy's pain even if he didn't know the details, it was bad, that much he knew. "H-Hey...I've got an idea, I know a song, it's a magic lyric that my mother used to sing to me whenever I was sad or afraid...she taught me it so I'm gonna sing it for you, okay?"

She didn't answer from inside the dark room crying and hiccuping as Lucy's voice drifted under the door in a pretty tune, something about stars and light and the knowledge that stars possessed, having strength to move forward despite pain. It struck chords within both girls and Lucy's voice cracked slightly as she continued to sing for Levy who was...slowly calming down but was still terrified and only wanted Gajeel in that moment but she wasn't as bad off as before. Lucy kept her tune going, only to be joined by a harp not too much later, Lyra must have come out to play and sing with Lucy.

That's what Gajeel, Hibiki, and Natsu walk into. Lucy singing with Lyra while the spirit played a sweet harp melody. It struck Gajeel to his core and he immediately went upstairs and was glad to see that Lucy wasn't directly in front of the door, but sitting beside it. He says nothing, uses his iron abilities to form a key then gently opens the door only to be greeted by the smell of tears and a muffled, "No...go away..." She must have assumed he was Lucy.

Lightly he walks over to her and pulls her close to him through the blanket, surprising her while his heart ached for her pain, he had only left for a little while, to get something to make her happy, but right now...damn did he feel likea failure as a boyfriend. He shouldn't have left her alone for nothing, should have asked Natsu and Lucy to fetch Hibiki. "I'm sorry Levy. I didn't mean to let you suffer by yourself. I'm back now okay? I won't leave you like that again...Salamander told me you actually screamed this time, is that true?"

She wasn't sure how to react, she was relieved and in pain and sad all at once. Too much to feel at once, instead she opts to cling to the iron shadow dragon and cry loudly; he'd come to her rescue time and again but for once him being there wasn't relieving any of her pain, she'd been fighting this for the past eight days though, whimpering as the nightmares took her heart at night but she desperately didn't want Gajeel to worry. Too late now Shrimp...his voice in her head unseals the full dam and she almost screams as tears pour down her cheeks, "I-I'm s-so sorry! I d-don't know why...why I've gotten s-so upset..." The hiccups and smell of salt were bothering him a lot at this point and all he could think to do was hug her tighter. What the hell had she been through? He still hadn't gotten that information out of her yet.

"Grrr...." The growl rumbles from the depths of his chest as he keeps Levy protectively in his grasp as the music outside the room stopped now. "Don't you dare apologize for cryin' again Levy! I...don't know what's been done to you...what ever it is you're too afraid to tell me which is fine but...it's obviously hurt you so much! I hate that!" The anger behind what he said startled Levy and made her look up at him in shock as the tears slowed quickly.

Then she let out a gentle giggle, it was quiet and unless you were right next to her; or a Dragon Slayer; there was no way one could have heard it. "I-I hate...it too..." She leaned her head against his chest and let her forehead press to the muscle under his ripped up tank and started talking, it could be deemed as rambling but she had to tell him, she was so tired of suffering alone with this all stuck inside her head, "I-I...They tortured us Gajeel...In...many ways..." She could feel him stiffend as she kept going, quickly spilling more and more of the darkness she had been through that lonely month, "They strapped us in these anti-magic cuffs when we weren't tied to their stupid machine but we were so restrained and so tired when they sapped us of our magic, it all happened so often, everyday. We were put through physical pain too...punishments when we tried to disobey...I hated it..." Cringing Levy now grips her fingers tightly and squeezes her two gloved hands together; she never took these things off since she'd gotten back but...now she removed them and showed her hands to Gajeel, "O-One of the things they did...was...r-ri...rip off our fingernails with...various tools and..." She wrings her hands together before letting him see the scars on the bottom of her fingers and those were the only scars, the backs of her hands looked like they'd been burned multiple times.

That was when another deep Earthland shattering rumble erupted from Gajeel's lungs as he watched Levy's tears falling again, her hands...that made him so angry that they would go so far! More growling rumbled through him and he squeezed her small shaking frame to his and asked...the one question he didn't want to know the answer to, "Oh yeah...? Grrr...and are you gonna tell me what they were asking you to do that you 'disobeyed' them? I may just have to kill some bastards depending on what I hear!"

A bitter laugh leaves Levy's mouth as she answers, "Yeah? I...wouldn't stop you." With that one little thing the true depth of the darkness planted in the small blunette was revealed and that pissed Gajeel off even more; if that was possible, oh they were gonna pay, as soon as these two were stronger he would tear this world apart to find whoever had done this to her; since according to Hibiki's research that damned guilt wasn't the only one that did that, wasn't even the main culprits.

"A-Anyway...the things they would...try and make us do..." The growling and tighter hug encouraged her to continue, even though she didn't want to show him the depth of her taint, she would." "We were like their slaves...we did everything for them or we got hurt...they would even purposefully mess us up just so they could punish us for screwing up. It wasn't just me and Lucy either, all the girls were harmed, some more than others. Other demands...w-were...s-sex related but Lucy and I always fought really hard and...those were the worst days. O-One way or the other, our Pride and Dignity, or...our physical and mental health...S-Shame...is more of a killer than scars." Gajeel gagged as his mind ran wild with what he thought they may have done to the girls while they were unconscious. That growl of his was a nearly continuous stream now as he squeezed her tightly.

"They're dead. If everyone in Fairy Tail heard that they wouldn't even be stopping for a moment...they're probably hunting them down anyway but telling anyone that would drive them to work faster..." He could hear her hiccupping and didn't just smell the tears but felt them burning into his shirt. In his head he went over the facts, shame and pain both were damaging but shame was far more harmful; that was his personal opinion after all he had many things he was ashamed of, his main shame being what he had done to Levy himself. Oh god...he had nailed her to a tree...and...He gagged again; this time at himself and told himself not to remember that right now, but damn...he shakes his head and lets his forehead press against hers to make her look at him, realizing how small she truely was, she definitely would have died if she'd been there any longer, that broke his heart, either way she would have been screwed. "Damn! I swear to Mavis I'm never leaving your side again. Ever! I'll tear them all apart for this!"

"Again I say, I wouldn't stop you. Though...it appears they didn't take advantage of us in our unconcious states either. Surprising as it is, they did like to torture us mentally as well though...Using this dream creating ability of their's they would create nightmares sometimes of the entirety of Fairy Tail being murdered right before our very eyes and our friends cursing us as they all died around us...Everyone I ever cared for was murdered before my eyes..." She had worked herself up a bit more before finally calming down some and she felt a little lighter, just a little, the darkness was still clouding her but it was at least a little less now that Gajeel knew what she had gone through. She had needed to talk to someone about it apparently and it only occurred to her now that was what she had needed to do in the first place. Slowly she leans back and sares at him with her puffy eyes realizing that she felt sore and pained all over she cringed slightly. "I-I forgot...we just fought not too long ago...was I out long?" She made an attempt at a lighter subject.

Gajeel concedes to this not wanting to make her linger in the dark for too long, "No...Maybe three hours? Capricorn said the meditating can take a break today b-but anyway...we have something we wanted to talk to you about. Somethin' odd 'bout yer magic circle when you meditate."

"Oh? I've seen yours, Lulu's, and Natsu's, I didn't ever think to ask about mine." She laughs gently...until her stomach growls in annoyance and she turns red as a beet. "Um...ack...can we talk about it over food? I'm super hungry..."

Unfortunately he couldn't chuckle even though he wanted to and instead nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Come on Shrimp." He helped her stand up, pulled his shirt off over his head and gently wiped her face with the top, even though it was the middle of winter he still liked his tanks, if he caught a cold so what? Levy was very compliant today and that bothered him too, all he wanted to do was keep her to himself and cuddle all her fear away. Gah...t-that's an embarrassing way to think...He scolds himself internally.

That's when he heard it, her giggle, gentle, musical, and very Levy sounding, before turning his attention to her. "Cuddle me until my fear fades huh? I didn't think you could think such things Gajeel, let alone let me hear them." She giggled more and teased him, the image put in her head cheering her up considerably more as they headed downstairs and found Natsu and Lucy in the kitchen cooking together; well it was more like Natsu was bugging Lucy and feeling her up as she cooked and she kept clucking at him to try and make him stop, maybe Levy should make a noise? Thinking quickly and hoping that they wouldn't know they'd been caught in the act she smiled at Gajeel and spoke in a rather cheerful tone. "So where is Hibiki anyway? You said you went to get him right?"

Lucy blushes darkly and smacks Natsu away, hard, and right towards the mage in question that Levy had been asking about; who quickly blocks Natsu's roll with his Archive shield and bounces him into a wall, "I'm over here Levy, come and sit down. This is immportant for you. Don't worry it's really good news...ah but how are you feeling?"

Levy looks down and blushes a bit nervously; she didn't know what to expect but she could feel Lucy's eyes boring into her; Lucy must have noticed her lack of gloves but said nothing so Levy simply ignores the stare and answers Hibiki, "I'm...okay I guess." She mumbled shyly then goes to sit down at the table keeping her distance from Hibiki as was her usual nature right now. Her friendliness had taken a steep dive to unfriendly during her time away from Fairy Tail and in those bastards clutches. "Ah, anyway, what is this important thing Hibiki?"

"Hmm, well let me show you this proof first I suppose. Look here at this, one of the times you meditated recently I was watching over you guys and recorded this." The Archive magic lights up under Hibiki's finger tips and he started typing away before turning the screen towards Levy and being told to hit the 'play' key on the board.

She wasn't sure how she would touch someone else's magic but did as he told her anyway and hit 'play', a simple video began, showing all four people meditating, herself, Lucy, Gajeel, and Natsu, about five minutes in; after panning past close ups of everyone but Levy herself the video finally panned over to a close up of Levy's own magic circle; as the other's magic circles had been shown off as well; but Levy gasped aloud as she noticed her own circle. It was shaped like the very Archive screen on whch the video played and even more amazingly showed all the languages she knew how to read, different phrases from each one and now that Levy could read it, she watched the words twirl around her body in the recording and knew what each phrase said immediately. All the phrases were encouragement, telling her that somewhere in her mind she was very capable of learning Archive magic herself, her magic knew her intimately and it read her name off to her as her heart skipped a beat but then yelled aloud forgetting her nightmare and fear in that instant, "No way! That's an ancient Lost Magic! I can't learn it!"

"Seriously Shrimp?" He laughed; yes not a gihihi, but a full on laugh as he listened to the bookworm panic at the thought of becoming that strong, "There's proof right in front of ya and you still say you ain't capable? Oi! the proof is there, look at the magic circle below you in the video! It's a perfect imae of Archive's screens. You have the strength and ability to learn it...that's why we invited Hibiki to stay for awhile. On the couch. No where near either of the rooms." He pointedly stared at the playboy Archive user who cringed under Gajeel's glare.

"I know I know! But what if Levy doesn't want to learn it?"

"I do! If...If everyone thinks I can, I want to learn it!" Her sudden cry of determination and the lingering smell of fear finally leaving her body entirely made Gajeel smirk to himself, this would distract her for awhile but now she was adding a third thing t oher training, not that Gajeel minded he wanted to see her grow stronger than she already was.

He sighed and cringed slightly as the bruise she gave him earlier in the day twinged a bit and he patted the top of her head, "That's a good girl. It'll be part of your regiment starting tonight then. Since meditating is off for this afternoon you have however long you'd like to start learning with Hibiki then." That' when Lucy decided to bring over the steaming meal for the crew. "Awright! Chow time! Gihihi!"

Lucy smiled proudly as she served up the food watching her blue headed best friend carefully to gauge her reactions, she seemed happy right now. Yeah Lucy was sure everything would be all right. She placed spahgetti on each plate, ordered Natsu to grate the parmesean, and then the five wizards sat down to eat their food. "Oh wow...You're such a good cook Lulu! Next time we should make the meal together. Show the guys what we can do, what do you think?"

"That sounds like a plan Levy, now eat up. I feel like you're gonna need your strength for everything that's going to start happening around us now. In fact, tomorrow we're doing the combat training in the afternoon from now on and meditating in the morning, it'll take out the need to make a trip home after fighting it out and then give us time to do other things. Like I'm gonna go to the library and try to dig up some more information about Celestial magic, Caprico told me there's something else I'm capable of," Lucy smiled cheerfully as she said all this and with agreeing nods from everyone they began to eat the meal while conversing pleasantly.


	10. Chapter 9 - Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going fine at least for the moment and Levy's discovered a potential for Archive which she begins to learn alongside HIbiki; who is acting her as her teacher, but things aren't all sunshine and happiness...someone's been in a dark mood and it may well just ruin this day yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one has taken a little longer than usual I've been havin' a little trouble but no worries!

The magic was still slipping through Levy's small fingers like water from a stream, she had been trying to access her ability for Archive for the past few hours while Hibiki explained about it the entire time,, she had almost called up the screen and keyboard once, even though she could sense the knowledge within learning the magic; she really wanted that knowledge but it seemed to be eluding her for today and she was nearly exhausted and Hibiki sensed this, "Hey Levy we can continue it tomorrow. No need to rush. You oughta take a break."

Reluctantly Levy nodded panting a little  before smiling at Hibiki, "Thanks for taking so much time with me. I hope you won't be stuck here for a long time." The blunette muttered a little and glanced away from the dark blonde headed wizard.

"Well I'm more than glad to be of service m'lady!" Hibiki said over cheerfully while taking Levy's hand in his own.

You would expect that to be a problem with Gajeel but the dragon sitting over Levy's shoulder ignored the flirty blonde and his attempts at hitting on Levy, HIbiki did however notice that he wasn't paying attention though and released Levy's hand before walking away while Gajeel muttered to himself about one thing or another, something about pointedly ignoring his actions and he came across as very distant to be honest so Levy wanted to cheer him up a little, "Hey, are you okay? I really appreciate your support you know?"

"Whatever Shorty, you've spent a lot of time with him, I'm tired of it, I..." Yes? What is it? Levy's voice invaded his thoughts when he took a long while to answer her but what stung him most is the way she smiled sweetly at him. Frustrated with himself he turns away from Levy's questioning look and let his mind wander elsewhere that is until he feels a beating heart under his large palm suddenly, that startled him and he gasped before turning and locking eyes with her, "Shrimp...?" Her heart was actually beating faster than usual as she smiled at him.

"I almost felt like you were jealous and it was...no correction is kinda cute...or...is something else on your mind Gajeel?" That smile of hers weas cutting into him, but she was cute, she was blushing but looking away from him nervously, now Gajeel doesn't usually think before he talks and he decided to bring up what they had talked about earlier.

With a sigh Gajeel puts his big tan hand under her small chin and makes her look at him as he asks, "Aren't you going to ask me?"

"Ask you what?" Levy responded in confusion while tilting her head.

"Not to tell anyone about what you told me earlier."

Levy blinked, recognition and understanding dawning on her, what was worse, at least for the dragon personally, was the way her bright hazel eyes filled with trust and then she had to talk. "Gajeel...I trust you explicity. If for some reason you feel the need to tell someone about it...I know you would ask my permission first."

Those words should have made him the happiest man alive, but he still remembered. Not a day went by that he didn't remember the scream he had ripped from Levy's throat when they first met, he remembered all the time to punish himself. That's when it dawned on him, he had forgotten the pain he had caused her for nearly nine days now! Suddenly his eyes turn cold and...hateful? Regretful? Levy couldn't tell but she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach now.

She wasn't able to quickly identify the emotion though but her own panic had risen when she had felt Gajeel's mind starting to turn dark, that's when she was hit with it...the memory of how they met raced across her thoughts, "Gajeel!" She barely choked out his name before he shoved her away from him hard, his eyes hardening into red...nearly hateful orbs.

"Hmph, you don't me at all do ya? I've seriously had fun stringing you along girly but yer gonna learn real quick that I enjoy screwin' with people. You looked so miserable and pathetic in the days leading up to when you realized you 'liked' me, I thought it would be fun to fuck with yer head, so I responded telling you I felt the same, just to see your reaction, gotta say it was priceless and interesting, well...it's a lot more priceless right now!" He laughed in her face before leaning down close to her and smirking nastily at her, "It was fun I guess...Gihi...I'm a pretty good actor, ain't I?" He told her this plainly with those distant and harsh eyes.

Weren't those eyes not too long ago just kind and warm, comforting even? She had sought comfort in his strength, his warmth when she had felt cold and dead inside...but she was an idiot wasn't she? He had always been like this, a little time in Fairy Tail wasn't going to change someone like him, not someone so cold, cruel, and hateful right? That memory...it stabbed at Levy's heart with dozens upon dozens of frozen spears, trying to break it but then she decided to yell at him, words she couldn't take back...ever, "I...I hate you with all my heart Gajeel! I hate you so much!!"

"Like I care you little brat, I just felt sorry for you," with an unreadable expression he turned his back and walked away from her. Lucy and Natsu had heard her yell and Gajeel passed the two, then the raven haired dragon leisurely walked towards the door.

"Did you two fight? Levy! Are you gonna be okay?" Lucy's voice reached him even as he approached the door and so did Levy's response to the blonde's question, which chilled him right down to his iron heart.

"No, we didn't fight. I'm fine." He could hear the smile in her voice and it felt like Gray's ice was trying to freeze his lungs over to stop him from breathing.

Once he was by himself he realized that he had arrived in the training clearing, no one was around and now that he was alone he went completely berserk, he released as much of his magic as possible, he decided to exhaust himself until he couldn't move. After saying something so cruel to Levy he deserved all the pain in the world and somewhere in his head he wished he could take all the trauma from Levy and carry it himself.

He should have been happy, but it made his heart ache when she said she had trusted him so much. Self-pity, that's what his mind screamed but he felt nearly worthless, like he couldn't trust anything. How in the hell could he allow Levy to trust him when he didn't trust himself? That's what pushed him, what hurt him the most. A dragon's roar echoed from deep within his chest, a more primal and animalistic sound than he had ever made before and in that instant he had nearly drained himself of all his magic.

It wasn't too much longer that he collapsed, he didn't have the strength to stay standing, his roar had caused the bruise that Levy had given him to ache and he welcomed the pain, that's how he fitfully fell asleep, outside in the snow and cold, unable to move. He would have to regenerate before he could go back...where he would avoid Levy like she carried the plague.

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Sunlight broke through the branches early in the morning and Gajeel groaned in annoyance as he sat up and rubbed his aching body. From draining himself last night or from Levy beating the snot out of him? He didn't know. Before he moves he sits still and focuses for a moment, slamming all other thoughts out, he would keep Levy out of his head no matter what, though he didn't understand why the connection hadn't been broken. It would go away with time, he was sure of it...and it hurt. 'It's what I deserve.' This is what he thinks as he slowly walks back to the house and attempts to sneak in, he felt ashamed of the fact he had run off and slept in the cold like that. His sneak was cut off though because he sneezed suddenly and in that instant Natsu came running from the kitchen and slammed a fiery fist into Gajeel's face. "Yow! What the hell didja do that for Salamander?!" He yelled at the fiery pink headed idiot and was glaring until he noticed that the blondie was crying and the Blue Pegasus guy looked really pissed off. "What the hell is wrong with all of you?"

"What's wrong...? What's wrong?!" Lucy screeched at Gajeel startling him into stumbling back a bit, she was channeling the fury that Natsu showed in silence, the young man's pupils were barely slits as he glared at the black dragon who was completely dumbfounded at the moment. "After you went off and didn't come back Levy left and went looking for you! She hasn't come back yet! That's what's wrong you blackhearted jackass!"

An unnatural fear gripped him but he remained expressionless, "She'll be fine. I ain't worried about it, 'sides she gave me a bruise, I'm sure she can defend herself."

Hibiki was making his way quickly towards Gajeel but Natsu already had the idiot by his shirt collar and glared deathly seriously into Gajeel's red eyes, "Aren't you here boyfriend pal? If you didn't fight...Why did you leave huh? Why abandon her now of all times?! After you've been constantly by her side for the past nine days!" Natsu yelled this flames spewing from his mouth and even his fist was on fire at this point.

That's when the Archive user's voice filled the now silent room, "I know your history Gajeel. I know what you did to Fairy Tail before...but are you fucking stupid?" That was rare and had everyone going wide eyed as they all listened to Hibiki, "Makarov let you join the guild...obviously willing to let you atone for your sins. Did it occur to you ever...did you ever even think about that? Why would he do that if he didn't think you worth saving or forgiving? Now that I think about it...wasn't it Levy who forgave you first? The person you hurt the most? The entire guild...and out of those people, one just happened to step out, that sweet hearted bookworm with the mind of a freakin' genius and an imagination like none I've seen before, and probably the kindest most forgiving you've ever met in your life, and she's the one who stepped up and forgave you. Before you ask, yes, even I've noticed that much about her Gajeel and I don't even know her like you do."

Lucy jumped in, knowing Levy better than the others; well mostly except for maybe Gajeel, "He's right you know? You're being stupid! Think you metallic brained moron! You've been by her side since you arrived in the guild! You've fought to protect her, I know because she's told me the story so many times. You know her better than I do, hell I think you know her better than Jet and Droy do! She forgave you long ago, and you've atoned enough. I mean...d-do you think what you did can even compare to what those bastards did to us in that prison?" As if to make a point Lucy spun and showed them the scar on the back of her once flawless legs, it was an ugly X shape...such an ugly scar..."This is pain Gajeel! That and...being betrayed by someone you care for!"

His heart rose into his throat, he had gotten so used to seeing her in that jacket...he nearly forgot that Levy's back was decorated with a similar scar, she had been tormented, she had told him that he was the only one who could keep the nightmares at bay. Only he could soothe her...and this thought slowly occurred to him. He cracked his head on a wall, leaving a dent that he would definitely repair later but a trickle of blood slides down his forehead; he hit his head hard for that to happen. By Mavis why was he always so dense? It occurred to Gajeel that he had no right to call Natsu dense, after all Lucy bore Natsu's red skeletal dragon mate mark, while Levy was out in the cold huge city all alone looking for him. Shit shit shit! He opened up his mind and ran out the door pushing away his soreness for now.

He reached out and sought her light but when he latched onto something strange he was a little startled, the darkness that colored her heart sometimes was the most prominent feeling about her right now. He had to get to her fast! He was caught off guard though when he found her in the woods sitting on a frozen lake; the waterfall was frozen as well; and she had a blue keyboard and screen floating in front of her, he got chills the second he saw her, something wasn't right. The jacket was off and her scar was exposed for the world to see, something he knew she wouldn't do right now, "Levy...?" His voice cracked and he sounded hallow...ow that roar must have hurt his voice more than he thought.

Dark hazel eyes slowly made contact with his eyes and she grinned at him, almost creepliy, "Hey you, it turns out despair is what gave me access to Archive...it's pretty amazing. There's all kinds of information to be found here, for some reason I can only access information on dark magic right now though. Oh yeah, speaking of, did you know that these scars are magically created?"

That caught his attention and he stared at her wide eyed, unmoving while he listened, if she had access to information about their scars...maybe they could find the guild who had hurt her, or the mastermind behind the whole scheme, that information would let Fairy Tail chase those assholes from here to the sun and back again. Gajeel did realize that his bookworm was in a really sensitive state of mind right now though, he had to be careful with how he approached the subject..."Levy...what can you find about the scars you and Star Girl have?"

There was a creepy giggle but she answered him, "Oh that's easy, I know all about them. A guild called Cursed Phoenix uses them to mark victims, once they've been marked they can be found at any time by the Autumn Queen who is the leader of the guild. Which means Lulu and I can be kidnapped again at any time for the rest of our lives, as long as their guild stands. I was thinking of joining them honestly."

Oh yup...something inside of her had snapped and Gajeel needed to bring her back from the edge fast, the light inside her was nearly gone. "Hey Shrimp...ya know...I didn't mean any of that stuff I said to ya...I was bein' selfish and pitying myself like a brat. By Mavis I'm really ashamed of what I said to ya."

Dark hazel flickers to sparkling hazel for a moment as she glances up, "Really...?"

"Really really."

"Really...really?" She's somewhat brighter eyed now.

He wanted to laugh but did not, he couldn't afford to startle her or she would tip over the edge into darkness and he knew it, "Yes really really...In fact..." he laughed now, not a gihi, or a chuckle, no he fully laughed, full and heartily, "I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you Shrimp and I will never hurt you again. I'll swear on my magic that I won't, even swear on Mavis' grave...whatever you want, hell I'll even swear on Metalicana's life that I won't ever hurt you on purpose again."

The reaction was instant and she started sobbing like a child before yelling at him, "You're so stupid! So stupid Gajeel! Yo-You idiot...!" She had shed so many tears in the past few days that he was surprised that she wasn't dying of thirst, but he said nothing, he listened to her rail at him and then apologize, "I-I'm s-so sorry...I'm so stupid...I'm so so so sorry Gajeel...! I didn't mean it when I said I hated you, I don't hate you, I can't hate you. I'm sorry!" He was horrified, she had no reason to apologize, none at all, he was the one at fault right now, he would clear that up right this instant.

"You have nothing to apologize for Levy! Nothin' at all. I'm the one w-who should be s-sa...agh...this is hard....I'm the one who should be sayin' sorry! You ain't done nothin' wrong. I'm the one who said something awful to you. If I was a Phantom Lord wizard I probably would have just messed with ya...but I'm a part of Fairy Tail now...and these bonds we share...are our strength. Natsu kicked my ass with these bonds and all I want is to...I want to protect you, and the people you care for! I want to protect the place I love and the people I care for." He risked stepping towards Levy who had gotten to her feet and the ice was cracking under her feet...that had him paranoid but Levy was quick and light, before he could even fully react she rushed him, jumping in his arms where he spun her around holding her with his arms tucked under her rear, she was so small and light, he could do this one handed if he wanted to but he had other plans. Hands firmly supported her back and he held her tightly there before grinning toothily at her, "I love you Levy and I mean that."

That pulled a laugh from the blunette, a true one, a hearty and true laugh that made him grin even more, "Really?" He eyed her suspiciously before she giggled and nodded, "Well guess what?" He rolled his eyes before staring pointedly at her as she tried to mess with him, "I love you too Gajeel!"

That was it, he couldn't hold back anymore, she had returned his feelings and on top of that he now fully understood that they could make it through all this, and more, all together, like they were supposed to. He had been more than stupid to be so mean to her in the first place. With this last train of thought crashing a little he held her firmly still and kissed her on the lips, fully and passionately, desperately wanting to figure out what she tasted like, when she finally gave in and opened her mouth a little to invite him in he took full advantage of it without hesitating, it was a good taste, like ice cream and blueberries just like he'd thought. The books and ink smell wasn't covering up her natural scent when he was this close and that made him happy. She had to breathe at some point though and lifts her arms to lightly wrap them around his neck but she stops halfway through this action and gasps staring at her wrist. A black skeletal dragon's spine trailed up her wrist, with wings folded in, and it shined metallically. "Gajeel...?"

"What?" he grumbled panting a little, yeah he had needed to breathe too, but when he saw her staring at her wrist he quickly looked at it and spotted the mark. A mate mark painted her pale skin and he set her down to quickly look at his own wrist. The same mark was on his own wrist, but it was teal colored and looked very much like parchment. Gajeel grinned and stared at his mate and brushed her cheek with a single finger, "You're stuck with me now bookworm, you better be on guard for the next week if you don't wanna be with me until we die....though I won't give up easily."

"Until...we die?" She yelped and turned red wondering why he had mentioned a time limit of any sort. Honestly she loved the mark...but why would she need to be on guard? She would ask Lucy when they got home. "Ah! Forget that for now! We gotta tell them about the scars!" Feeling better, relieved and happy she grabbed Gajeel's hand and dragged him behind her as she ran for the house, though she was blushing as she could clearly feel the warmth from their mate marks and then Gajeel sneezed.


	11. Chapter 10 - Little Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levy and Gajeel return to the house only to find Natsu and Lucy worried, that is until they see the marks on their wrists, so Lucy decides to drag Levy away for a little chat...but will things be all right with her and Natsu as the deadline for making her choice is approaching fast?

Lucy began pacing around the house, Gajeel had run off to find Levy but he wasn't back yet, that had Lucy worrying endlessly, all the while Natsu was trying to get her to calm down by keeping hold of her hand and hugging her on occasion though she kept constantly brushing him off. "Where are they?! They've been gone for hours! We should-" her sentence gets cut off as they hear the door slam open and then close. Not a moment later Gajeel comes into view carrying a coatless Levy over his shoulder with some sort of nasty teasing smirk on his face. "Where the hell have you been?!" Lucy suddenly screamed at them while standing in front of them tapping her foot in annoyance.

Levy peeked over her shoulder as she lifted herself off of Gajeel's shoulder a bit, "Oh Lucy...ah haha...sorry I sort of ran off last night. It's all fine now." She turns around and smacks the person carrying her until he drops her. "Finally. Anyway, um...Lucy I have a question..." As she started talking she lifted her right hand and showed her the mark on her own wrist. "What is this? I...I just sort kinda got it after Gajeel found me and I don't know what it is. I mean...I can feel Gajeel's magic flowing into me, almost as if...if I wanted to I could use it myself. I don't understand."

"Oh! That's the mate mark!" Natsu is the one who spoke up after seeing the black skeletal dragon spine decorating her wrist, "It's...a sort of proof that Gajeel is willing to be with you forever if you choose to be with him too. That's all I honestly know though but I understand what you're talking about, ever since I marked Lucy I've been feeling her magic running through me as if it were my own." Apparently Natsu had said too much though because Levy's face was brilliant bright red as he explained about it, but he was dense and kept going. "There's a week long time limit, you'll keep the mark for a week unless you two have sex; well if you choose to take him up on his offer."

Now Lucy, Levy, and Gajeel were all beet red, why why was he so damn blunt?! Lucy coughed, slapped Natsu in the head then turned to Levy, "Hey Levy...while Natsu and I were out the other night...we happened upon a hot spring with a shop near it, s-so let's go take a bath together! Get some new clothes too, what do you say? We can have a little chat that's a bit more sensitive, yeah?" Levy simply nods, in that moment Lucy grabs her hand taking off out the door with a yelled, "Don't follow us! Wait patiently you two! If something happens we have my Spirits...Loke will help us if we're caught off guard." Then the pair were gone and headed out the door; lacking jackets so they were making their way quickly down the alleys and roads.

"L-Lulu...w-was Natsu serious? Oh god! T-That...explains the comment about having a sort of time limit...but...couldn't we just get the marks back...? Or is it a one time thing...I-I think we need to research this a bit..." Levy's voice came out in a nervous tone but she didn't say much more, she had retreated into her own head it seemed and so Lucy was left in silence while guiding the two girls towards the hot spring they had found a few days back.

It was unsettling though. Lucy felt as if someone were following them or watching them, she peeks over her shoulder and spots a shadow duck into an alley, fear takes hold but she keeps calm and doesn't walk any faster, the winter wind was biting though, chilling, so this made her pick up her pace a bit before smiling at Levy and trying to bring her back from her thoughts, "Hey Levy, it's really cold, we should hurry or we'll end up getting sick."

"Oh yeah!" At that the pair start jogging down the road finally arriving at the clothing shop; as neither of them had changed before they had left, though they should pick up some towels and stuff for the house as well. "Hey Lulu, are you okay? You look a little pale, is something wrong?"

Lucy blinked and turned her attention back to Levy before guiding the other girl over to the hot springs, "Yeah...I'll tell you in the spring, let's just get out of sight and relax...besides we have to talk about something, namely what Natsu said, the tactless idiot." Levy turned red as that was brought up again but she sighed and the two young girls stripped before sliding into the hot spings water. "Okay...so happy or strange news first?"

"Aren't both things strange?"

"Possibly...anyway so strange first; frightening really, I thought I saw someone following us..." Lucy responded quietly before turning to look at her friend who quickly paled and wrapped her arms around herself. "I...sorry...we'll be fine I'm sure, we're in public and this really isn't that far from the house...I can still hear Natsu's thoughts from here...he's arguing with Gajeel; who is also calling him tactless by the way."

"I...Yeah I can hear that. Um...Lulu...I...I've gotta tell you our...our scars... lets the guild that spear heads these kidnappings to find us whenever...m-maybe we should call for the boys..." Levy mumbled and Lucy took a deep sharp breath her inner voice automatically calling for Natsu who she heard tell Gajeel and then knew the boys were coming here. Though Lucy did tell them to just bathe and not burst in on the girls.

Lucy looked down with narrowed eyes and sighed, "I didn't know that or we wouldn't have left them behind in the first place. Thank you for telling me..." She pulls her legs up to her chest and wraps her arms around her knees keeping her body in closed off body language but she still mumbled about the other half of this necessary conversation. "So...About what Natsu said...from what I understand it's true. I've been feeling weird for the nearly week long time I've been marked and been thinking this whole time about it...normally...I wouldn't jump into things but...this isn't really jumping, I've been with him consistently since I joined the guild, he's my partner in fights and always comes to find me if something goes wrong. The proof is in the fact he rescued me this time too..." Lucy's eyes close and she seems to smile softly and visibly relaxes. "I'm in love with him, so binding myself to him forever isn't such a bad idea is it?"

"No not for you and Natsu...I'm...sort of the one who's jumped forward too fast...Maybe..." Levy begins to mumble and moves over to sit beside Lucy who she leans against and rests her head on her shoulder. "I'm worried..."

"About you and Gajeel?" Lucy looks to her friend with soft eye carefully watching.

"Yes that but also everything else...like that guild called Cursed Phoenix...leaving Fairy Tail, moving away, I'm upset about it all. I...I know this may sound odd but I really wish it wasn't just us four. I wish we had Lily and Happy with us too...it's being around...the other men...that makes me nervous, not the cats. I wonder why they couldn't come?" 

"Hmm...well let's see, they're nosy, we probably wouldn't be as close to Gajeel and Natsu as we are, there's a few reasons, but I don't really get it either, maybe so we're not so easy to identify? After all two flying cats is more conspicuous than the four of us...though maybe Gajeel and Natsu stand out a bit too much, but they'll protect us no matter what. That much I have complete faith in." Lucy says it with a smile and is happy to see Levy relax in the water.

"True..." she responds with a smile, jumps a little then laughs; Lucy assumes that the iron dragon talked to Levy because she moves away from Lucy and slides under one of the waterfalls that is pouring into the hot spring. "Hey once we've relaxed a little longer we should probably hop out and go to the showers to get properly cleaned up."

"Sounds like a plan Shrimp!" Calls Gajeel's rough voice from the other side of the wall, Natsu hadn't told Lucy that the boys had showed up so she jumps upon hearing one of their protectors just on the other side of a...very...thin...wall. Lucy's face goes hot as she blushes darkly knowing that her fire dragon is on the other side of that wall and has already seen her naked just the other day, that made her heart race.

"Luce, are you all right? I can hear your heart beating really hard," calls Natsu, it sounded like he'd moved closer to the wall because he had been worried when Lucy's heart began to race.

"Erm...y-yeah I'm fine Natsu, just didn't know you guys were here already." After that the rest of the hot spring bath passes with only the low mutterings of Gajeel and Levy through the wall, they were talking to each other about this and that but...Lucy and Natsu weren't speaking at all so Lucy just sat in the awkward silence alone. At least they'd chatted and now Levy knew somewhat more what Gajeel's mark on her wrist entailed, but otherwise it was quiet now.

As a nervous result Lucy is the first to rise from the water, silently, so as not to alert Levy and then disappears into the washroom itself where she plops onto a stool with a basket, soap, and a shower head and begins to wash off. She spaces out expecting to hear Natsu's idle thoughts but she can't actually, which makes her worry, her heart racing, clenching as if filled to the brim with fear she breathes a little heavier only to wash off fast then quickly spin around only to end up nose to nose with black eyes and a bit of pink hair hanging down into her vision. First response should have been a scream but it wasn't, she leaped at him and hugged him really tightly shaking like a leaf, "Luce...? Y-You okay? I didn't mean to scare you I just...I didn't want you to know what I was gonna do so I kinda shut you out of my thoughts, did...that scare you?" She nods vigorously and sniffles slightly, "I'm sorry about that, didn't think it'd do that to you. After what Levy told you I'm not surprised though, so hey, help me clean up and we can leave, go do whatever you want."

Lucy blushes darkly while clinging to him but instead of telling him 'no' or saying something, she just sits up and let's him go over to a stool, once he sits down she pulls out a sponge and bucket of warm water then begins to scrub his back gently but quickly, she wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Levy's giggling is the only reason that she knows the other woman is in the main bath room now and hears her friend 'shush' somebody which just makes her finish her scrubbing of Natsu faster. "Come on, you're all done." She says it softly and smiles before dumping a bucket of cold water over his head forcing him to rinse off. He tries not to yell and Lucy just laughs as she disappears into the changing room and puts on the long cotton skirt of navy blue followed by a pale purple turtleneck sweater. Once Lucy walks out of the room she's greeted by seeing her dragon sitting on a bench in a black crew neck sweater and a pair of jeans with black boots on. "Aww you look good in that, instead of that same outfit with sandals. I'm glad to see you're sensible at least."

"Of course I am, I can't get sick or else you'd get sick, now come on, what do you want to do?" He smiles at her as she sits next to him and pulls on a pair of warm brown leather boots that end just under the knee, she ties them up then stands, he follows suit then offers his arm nervously, she blinks, a little surprised he thought about that but she gratefully takes it and loops her arm through his, "You're really beautiful you know that?"

Lucy giggles in response and gives Natsu a peck on the cheek, "Aww thank you Natsu, you're really handsome yourself." She tells him this cheerfully then leads the pair out of the bath house, not quite sure what the other couple planned...but Lucy was feeling nervous, she had made her choice and now she needed to follow through with it. "Erm...hey N-Natsu...do you just...wanna go home?"

"What? Why? Are you still scared?"

"N-No...I..." she doesn't finish the sentence instead releasing his arm, moving her hand down to capture his which she grips tightly and then kisses him fully on the lips for a deep and passionate kiss, she had taken the initiative surprisingly and when they finally pull back to breathe a small string of saliva connects their lips while he stares at her with a hungry look in his eyes, "I-I've made my choice Natsu...I want to be with you for forever..." She blushes darkly as she says this but grips his hand tightly.

"Oh..." His voice comes out soft, making Lucy nervous that she had said the wrong thing but when he suddenly smirks wide and pulls her against his chest, putting the free arm against her back then moving his hand away from hers to lean down a bit and put his arm under her legs he scoops her up, "I hope you're prepared 'cause tonight is gonna be a long night for us. That's just the feeling I get." He grins at her, he wasn't so inexperienced that he knew nothing, in fact he'd had a lover a few times before, had a good idea of how women worked and he just wanted to make Lucy squirm under his touch. 

Unsure what she had signed up for she blushed darkly staring deeply into a now nearly predatory Natsu's black eyes, hot pools of black coal that burned with a fire that probably rivaled what he could breathe out of his mouth. Lucy's brown eyes were locked on his, wide and nervous, almost like a deer caught in headlights, so Natsu set to work trying to turn those warm eyes hot with want and pulled her close to him kissing her deeply while kneading her rear a bit, it would be a probably torturous walk home for Lucy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes...smut is next so be prepared. I should be able to get this chapter up quickly. Thanks for your patience ttyl! I hope you enjoyed!


	12. Chapter 11: Burning Fire and Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy and Natsu were about to bind themselves together for life, that was what Lucy had chosen what she hadn't been ready for was the fact that Natsu seemed quite adept at turning her into a boiling ball of desire. Perfect peace unfortunately couldn't last forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I lied to you! DX TwT I said I'd get this one out quickly and I DID NOT! I-I hope you enjoy it... TwT Smut, fluff, cuddles, and some trouble...

Natsu had been kneading Lucy's rear and thighs the whole walk home, kissing her nearly the entire time but when his mouth wasn't on hers it was on her neck, nipping and biting leaving a trail of slightly red looking angry marks on her pale skin, he noticed that she tasted just as good as she smelled, having a strong taste of strawberries to her skin. He was knocked back a bit though when he smelled that strawberries, stardust, and leather smell even more powerfully than usual, it woke up some dragon instinct inside of him that made him want to sate the fire that he had lit inside of her. He wasn't inexperienced with this sort of thing...so he would just have to be gentle it seemed, though the normally clueless fire dragon slayer seemed to be doing everything right if that smell meant anything.

That walk was so long, she couldn't focus the whole time, all she could feel was Natsu's hands and lips and teeth sending sparks through her neck down to her stomach where heat was beginning to pool from the attention he had showered her in the whole while they walked; well more like he carried her and he walked; she barely processed the first door click as they entered the house, but was well aware of the second click that meant they were inside the room they shared. Gently, with so much care that she hadn't known Natsu to be capable of he placed Lucy down on their bed. He had to be gentle with her, she had gone through something traumatic and he didn't want to set off one of her attacks. Those coal black eyes turned heatedly onto Lucy who shivered under the hungry gaze but she was filled with a sense of...pride she realized that she alone could bring this slayer to heel, that was how it had been from the beginning. As she began to realize this her chocolate eyes widened, she had always been by his side since she had joined the guild, no one in this world knew her better and she knew that this was the right choice.

He saw it, the look that flicked from fear, to bewilderment, then to astonishment, followed by pride and happiness, and the determination that came along with all those feelings. "Luce...I'm not going to hurt you, I'll be as gentle as I can manage. Are you afraid?" His voice was low and husky, he wanted to know how she felt about it, with no listening ears but his, he had to know, because he loved her so much he didn't want to hurt her.

The question caught her off guard but she stared down at the man standing at the end of her bed and thought over her answer carefully, "Y-Yes...a little...I'm afraid...but not of you, I've never done anything like this before but...Natsu...I love you and I trust you above everyone else..." Eyes widening in shock at her pure confession that she was indeed afraid but trusted him to such an extent humbled him but he didn't hesitate, he climbed onto the bed, kissing a heated trail up her right bare leg, loosening and undoing the belt and skirt she wore and pulled it past him as he kissed his way up to her bare stomach the color of a pale peach, but tasted far sweeter. He discarded her skirt to the floor leaving her in her underwear for now and moved his hot, rough hand up her shirt, running the calloused fingers over her breast to the nipple under the flimsy fabric she called a bra and pinched the sensitive nub slightly, earning himself a startled gasp. Her shirt quickly followed the skirt as he pulled the lacy fabric under her chest so he had full access to the round globes under it. A blush colored his face as he pressed his warm lips to the nipple he wasn't massaging and was rewarded with her moaning his name on a breath, "Natsu..."

He had to warm her up, make her as hot as he was naturally and then hotter yet, the small sounds she made were appealing to his sensitive ears and only he would ever hear those beautiful sounds. Deciding to take the dive his free hand slid under her panties and he began gently massaging around the edges of the hot entrance, the only warning she had before he dipped a finger into her and began rubbing the walls on the inside gently, which kept making her squirm and pant softly, he wasn't sure how long he could take it his shaft was already twitching to life earlier but now it jumped to attention, thankful that he always wore loose pants he could leave them on for now and attend to Lucy's desires; of course he had his own but he was showing patience he didn't know he had. Gently he puts a second finger in and stretches her open more while his thumb found the sensitive bundle of nerves which he began rubbing causing her to whimper then moan loudly, Lucy could feel the heat pooling in her stomach and now it felt as if a too tight spring was about to break loose, through their mark and bond he could feel her getting close to a climax so with a smirk against her heavy breast in his mouth he sped up his ministrations. Her voice couldn't have sounded more like heaven if she had tried, the name of her intended mate came from her in a loud cry of pure pleasure, "Ah...Natsu!"

Hearing that cry come from his woman made him grin while he sat up and licked the sweet juices from his fingers, "Mm, Luce you taste like the sweetest strawberries did you know that? How are you feeling?" He was smiling widely while he allowed her to recover, but man he was not expecting what came next Lucy's eyes shot open dark with desire and she sat up smirking at Natsu, her head was quiet which caused him to bite his lip nervously, "L-Luce...what are you plotting?"

"My mate took such good care of me, I'm going to return the favor." There was a slightly ulterior motive she knew he wasn't a virgin, she was though, but from what she understood it had been a long time since he had a partner so he would probably come quickly and honestly Lucy didn't want that. With that thought she pulls Natsu up on the bed and discarded his vest, even pulling his scarf from his neck, she gently folded it and set it on the nightstand, his breath caught in his throat at how she cared for his most precious possession...second most precious thing though, she was number one on his list, still when she pulled at the waistband of his pants he raised his hips so she could remove them and the boxers underneath. His shaft was now free and Lucy gasped slightly, oh sheesh how was he supposed to...she shakes the thought from her head and with a deep breath to shore up her courage she leans forward and presses her tongue to his base then slowly drags it up to the tip; which she discovered was particularly sensitive so she lavished attention there using her hand to slowly rub him, his groans of pleasure made her purr, the vibration trailing down her tongue and to his shaft causing him to gasp and hold his breath.

"By Mavis Luce...w-what did you do?" She shrugs nonchalantly and giggles before taking a breath and taking the head into her mouth, her tongue swirled around the head swiftly making him moan while she slowly took more of it into her mouth. She was trying to remember Cana's tips about this after they had been drunk one night, relax the throat...Lucy does just that as she takes it down, until her nose plants in the pink swirls of hair where she picks up his cinnamon and bonfire scent. She had managed to deep throat him and he was mumbling incoherently but she understood one thing, "C-coming..." She kept her mouth right there as the hot liquid poured down her throat, he twitched as the last of his climax fell on her tongue and she pulled back smiling sweetly while licking her lips.

"How are you feeling Natsu?" She didn't get an answer, he simply sat up and pounced her pressing his mouth to hers and dominating her mouth quickly his tongue sliding against her as she moaned into the kiss.

Despite all this though he still had to ask he didn't want to force her so he breaks the kiss and pants softly, "Hey Luce are you ready?" Blushing darkly she nods at him and carefully he moves his shaft to line up with her entrance and pushes the head in gently. Her breath comes out short as he makes his way slowly inside of her until he feels the small barrier protecting her chastity, "Wrap your arms around me." She does so without hesitating and once she's braced against him he snaps his hips forward and buries himself to his hilt inside her, smelling the blood he remains still as her nails dig into his back and a few tears trickle down her face which he kisses away quickly. "You okay...? Does it hurt?"

"A-A little bit...b-but please move...I'm getting used to it now..." She almost moans this out and he controls his own desire to just take her with everything he's got to make her more comfortable so he pulls back slowly almost leaving her until she whimpers then he pushes forward again filling her to full and causing her to moan hotly against his ear. He keeps up this slow torturing pace only starting to move a bit quicker when he feels the hot walls wrapping around his cock and squeezing him, "Faster...p-please..." She moans this and Natsu immediately obliges letting his control slip slightly, which he's rewarded for by her squeezing him tightly her legs now wrapped around his hips.

Her hands spread across his broad shoulders and back and she marvels at the taut muscles there her fingers pressing into his tensed up back, she had known he was trying to control himself but that wasn't his style, she wanted more, for him to just lose it, a small female dragon in her head roared in response, which startled her but she followed the advice given, "Natsu...stop holding back please...I want to...to feel all of you, please..." He gaped at his mate, she had given the go ahead, so now he listened to the roaring and impatient dragon in his head and followed instinct. Natsu moves her hands from his back and pins them above her head, he was smiling as he held her down, she was immediately worried what she had let free.

"You're mine..." He growled as he started to move quicker thrusting into her with more force which made her delicious breasts jostle with each movement, smirking he leaned down and bit her nipple slightly making her gasp and pant, she was past forming proper words, especially now that he wasn't being controlling of his nature and instead controlling her. With her arms trapped above her head she could only keep her legs wrapped around his hips and moan his name like a prayer. He would never tire of her saying his name with such breathless pants, so this only drove him to pound into her harder even though he was breathless himself. He chuckled when he found a sweet spot which he then began aiming for with every thrust. He was getting close to his second climax and so was Lucy, the squeezing of her legs and pussy warning him of this fact. "After this you're mine forever...I love you Lucy...now come with me." His growl made her blush but the tightening spring was so close to letting loose she couldn't respond properly. He thrust into her core a few more times, hard, and he came undone, "Lucy...!" She had felt the orgasm coming at the same time as her beloved mate and she cried out while his come poured into her in hot bursts that made her shudder.

Once the aftershocks settled for both of them Natsu rolled off his mate and pulled himself free laying beside her on their bed and grinning lazily at the hazy look in his Lucy's eyes. "Hmm..." She purred quietly and rolled to nuzzle into his chest running her finger over the scar on his neck and smiling at him, "I love you too Natsu." She whispered now coherent enough to respond, he blushed but smiled at her brightly, the cutest damn smile in this whole world and now they were officially together...forever. That thought filled her with a joy she didn't understand but what was even more strange was the image she saw in her head as she fell asleep. A pretty golden dragon speckled with stars curled under the wing of a scarred up big red dragon. Mates she realized...as her mind floated into a lazy dream world.

~~~~~~~~~

Knocking on the door startled Lucy awake as she sat up bleary eyed curled into a still snoring Natsu. "Lucy...? Hey Gajeel and I made dinner, come on downstairs." Levy's sweet voice reached through to her best friend and she smiled as she stretched and sat up, only for her stomach to growl loudly and her beloved mate blinking awake to laugh at her.

"Hungry my precious star?" His odd endearment made Lucy blush brightly before she launched from the bed and took off for the bathroom that was designated as hers and Natsu's. He was quick though and was also right behind her laughing. "A shower is a good idea. Thankfully I put some spare clothes in here." Lucy blinked and blushed again rounding on him with an incredulous look on her face.

"Did you plan this?"

"No...but I sensed your choice at the hot spring so I prepared." Blushing he rubs the back of his neck looking nervously away from her, awe you damn sweetheart, she said to him telepathically and he smiled brightly once more. "Nah I'm only sweet because it has to do with my star, the most precious star in my sky." He turned her wrist over and smiled at the now open mate mark which he kissed tenderly while she stared at the tribal looking dragon with its wings spread wide, touching on the back of her wrist and fire literally glowed inside the dragon painting her which also looked like it was roaring now.

She was shocked by the mark and Natsu's apparently extremely romantic nature, she hadn't thought him capable of charming her, a small fire lit in her stomach at the fact he was a romantic at heart, she was seriously tempted to jump him again right then but knew she needed a rest until she got used to him. "A-Anyway...le-let's shower quickly. Also erm...can I see yours?"

He immediately knew what she wanted to see and smiled as he turned his wrist over and saw a matching dragon mark but his was golden with stars speckled inside it, the stars formed constellations! She realized it instantly and laughed like a child on Christmas. "Natsu...I love it. When I get the chance...would you want to learn about the stars and zodiac?"

"Of course those things are precious to you. So teach me." At some point he had wandered off and turned the shower on and now he took her hand and led her into the hot spray. Quick wasn't a good term for their shower the water soothed Lucy and he kept trying to turn her fire on again which she was so tempted to give in but didn't. When they finally manage to finish cleaning up Lucy hops out and picks up the clothes he had picked for her. You're super tasteful my mate, she praised him telepathically and he laughed, "Score!" He watched her pull the suit on that she had worn during the Crocus incident with the dragons while Natsu then dressed in his usual and headed out the door and downstairs whistling a cheerful tune.

Lucy was blushing as she watched the cheerful Natsu seem to head down the steps with a pep in his step, he had also forgotten his scarf in the room,  so being a good mate she goes into the room and fetches it just in time to hear Gajeel laughing at Natsu, "What happened to you Salamander? You seem awful happy."

She flew down the stairs so fast she hadn't noticed the steps disappear under her feet, she stopped in front of Natsu and wrapped the scarf around his neck while he was in the process of showing his mark to Gajeel, he hadn't expected Lucy to appear in front of him though, literally appeared in front of him! He hadn't heard the telltale stairs creaking and then she was just there. "Lucy!" Levy screeched in shock when her best friend had appeared in front of Natsu with a small smile on her face. "How did you get down here so fast!?"

"Holy shit..." The raven haired man's jaw dropped, this crazy woman of Salamander's had teleported to him! She shouldn't have been able to do that yet! "Star girl...you...you didn't walk down here. You just showed up in front of him, do you even realize what ya did?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Of course I walked down how else would I get here metal head?" She tilts her head curiously as she finished putting her mate's scarf around his neck.

"Luce...I didn't fully explain what else we could do once we were mated, it's not just an unbreakable connection...there are a ton of benefits to having a mate and also for the mate a Slayer has chosen." He turned slightly red when Gajeel did his 'gihi' laugh at the pair. "I'll explain so Levy can understand as well...but after dinner okay? I'm really hungry."

"Same." Lucy said and she took one of the made up bowls of stew from the counter, everyone else followed suit and with a smile they all began eating. Lucy was surprised they had formed such a peaceful relationship between the pairs living in this house, but it was an understood agreement that nobody ate until everyone had their food. It was nice, peaceful and felt so much like a proper family Lucy was filled with happiness. Grinning to herself she ate with a gusto, she had never been so hungry before, and just one bowl wasn't gonna do her today. She, Natsu, and Gajeel all finished their first bowl at the same time leaving Levy with her jaw on the floor as she watched them all get seconds, then thirds. It was only after the fourth bowl that they stopped, "Ahh, much better." Levy was thankful they always made so much food, with Dragon Slayers and their damn appetites it had become second nature to make a TON of food so the slayers would be full, hell, even Wendy was a big eater.

"Hey Salamander, you should probably start explaining now that we're all done eating. Hibiki will be here in about an hour to work with Levy again." Gajeel reminded the fire slayer keeping his internal thoughts in check; he didn't have the clearest idea what the effects were either honestly, Metallicana avoided the subject because the one he had wanted rejected him; a fear that Levy might do the same now faced Gajeel himself.

"Oh right! Mating, there are a ton of pluses from it. I'll just list them by the stage they should happen in, the first stage is simply getting a bigger appetite but the reason for this is during the second stage the mated pair will start gaining more magic power, their magic vessels will expand exponentially." The three at the table stared in shock that the usually slow fire dragon knew such a large word but he brushed it off, "Erza's vocabulary lessons were scary man. Anyway third stage the mate; if not another slayer will start to see their own dragon based on their magic, fourth stage being able to go to your mate when they're in trouble just by focusing on them, teleportation in other words. There's also sharing dreams, thoughts; which we knew about; feelings and always knowing when the other one is in trouble, these usually develop over a course of several years and then the fifth and final stage is the partners being able to wield each other's magic, meaning Lucy will gain fire dragon slayer abilities at some point, not to the extent at which I do but likewise I'll be able to use Lucy's magic to some degree."

"That makes a lot of sense actually. Explains why our marks represent the magic in our partners. What if it's a normal person though?" Levy said tilting her head curiously and Gajeel responded this time.

"Won't happen, every dragon slayer will choose a mage who's power is usually equal to their own. It's not destiny, we can pick whoever we want but we prefer our partners to be strong...it's less fear they'll die and let's us focus in a fight since we know our chosen mates can handle themselves." He turned his red eyes to Levy sternly who blushed as she remembered how he had scolded her on her strength back in the hot spring. 

Lucy grinned teasingly at Levy's blush and nudged her in the side, "Oh? What's with that blush Miss Levy?"

"I'm not telling Lulu!" She yelped in response and when the door bell rang she jumped to answer it, not even realizing it hadn't been an hour yet. She heard Lucy's laugh from the kitchen and without checking the peephole opened the door with a smile, "Welcome Hibiki! I really-" her voice is cut off by a scream when she looks at who's at the door.

The three friends bolt into the living room to see a strange person in black and with a sack standing in the door way. Panic sets in because something in the bag is struggling, Gajeel loses it and charges the person growling viciously. The iron dragon didn't hesitate as he ran forward his scales already coming on as he hit the person in the face and sent them flying across the street into a lamp post. "Give her back now!" He growled ferociously as he pounced the man on the ground.

"Sorry, she was a wonderful test subject before and I've been given the orders to kill her and the other one but that will have to wait." The voice was male, but a high pitched nasally sounding man, of course he wasn't in much of a position to say that, an iron plated fist made contact with the face under the mask while he snatched the bag and ran back towards Lucy and Natsu standing in the door way. "Bastard! Return her to me at once! Cold Necromancy: Raise The Dead!" He screeched and the nearby cemetery stirred with life...undead life, only a few of the bodies answered his call but that was all he needed a few ghouls, creatures that would keep going even if they got torn apart.

"Cold Necromancy...?" Lucy whispered under her breath before stepping forward and raising one of her golden keys, Capricorn's symbol decorated it, "Open Gate of the Sea Goat: Capricorn!" Behind her eyes a flame lit and a dapperly dressed half goat man came in the golden light to the sound of a clock chiming, it was strange though, Capricorn's fists were on fire. "Capricorn!? What...what's going on? Ah! Forget it I'll figure it out later, help me stop this guy!"

"Yes ma'am." Capricorn responded not even startled by the fire, all of Lucy's zodiacs and spirits had felt it settle into her magic a little while back, flames, fire magic, it now infused her magic and soul, he was going to take it upon himself to talk to Mr. Dragneel about that later but for now, with his fists now ablaze he ran towards the man glaring behind his shades. "You sir have messed with the wrong family. I'm going to take care of you now if you don't mind." The butler goat swung his fist at the man before him, only for the guy to prove extremely agile and do a front flip over Capricorn's head. He was caught slightly off guard but smiled when he whirled around only to see Lady Lucy's whip wrapped around the man's foot and she yanked him to the ground. Capricorn didn't hesitate he leaped for the man aiming to knock him out in one blow only to have his flaming fist bust through a rotting human skull and splash the rot all over his face, it felt disgusting and smelled worse. Capricorn gagged slightly and turned to Lady Lucy who's eyes were wide and she looked about to vomit. "My lady, look away but also know these are corpses, not...living humans anymore. We cannot waver in this fight." She hadn't heard him so he turned to Natsu and gestured at his lady wizard.

Natsu was just as shocked by the corpse and its head busting open but he saw Lucy and her fear, he could sense the panic taking her over so he rushed to her and hugged her tightly squeezing her while blocking her view of the dead person. "Luce...it's okay. This guy...he uses dark magic and it moves corpses...they're dead we need to put them to rest again...don't...think about it too much."

"B-But they're humans N-Natsu..." She was in shock but now she had started sobbing.

"No they're dead..."

"I...w-what if...if it was my mom or dad!" She cried out, the ones that had risen still had some features on the dead faces and Lucy couldn't handle that, she had seen those people kill other girls, Luvy was lucky to be alive. She couldn't think anymore, sobbing she shut down and tuned everyone out.

Gajeel was up on his feet now standing protectively in front of Levy who was hyperventilating and struggling to breathe, both of their women were in a panic and now Natsu led Lucy to Levy where he sat her down next to her best friend. "We can't help'em 'til we get rid of this guy..." Gajeel growled as he marched forward to stand beside Capricorn; who was still here since Lucy hadn't cut her magic supply off yet. "Natsu let's do this quick..." He never thought he would suggest fighting beside the fire dragon; nor expected to ever call him Natsu. Salamander was standing beside Gajeel now and both took a deep breath before breathing out deeply.

Capricorn gaped in shock at the two slayers, who's breathing had synched up, the goat had quickly realized that pretty much everyone in Fairy Tail could Unison Raid but they had to trust each other, in the two weeks they'd spent together with those women had they learned to trust the other that much? Apparently because the two grin maliciously and their voices echo into one single voice, "Unison Raid: Iron Fire Dragon Festival! Exploding Lights!" Metal and flames dance together, in a perfectly balanced wave which they push out and towards the corpses, the bodies were burned to ash and the metal shrapnel caught fire aimed straight at the one who had raised the dead. The goat smirked slightly until his eyes; long designed to see everything; noticed the man's muscles bunch and saw him leap high into the air flakes falling around his feet as he floated there.

He laughed nastily his cloak and disguise now thrown away, his skin was pale, his hair greasy black, his eyes pale icy blue, and he was grinning like a maniac, "I see I see! You're dragon slayers! You're going to be trouble aren't you? Don't worry, I'm Jack Frost and I'm part of Cursed Phoenix, next time we meet...you're lives will be ours and those girls will be our dolls!" With that the man was gone, having caused trouble and now finding out who was protecting Lucy and Levy, that set all of the people fighting on edge.

"Lady Lucy I'm returning, I'll send Virgo here for you." He smiled softly thinking about the usually expressionless maid before disappearing in a swirl of golden light.

Lucy and Levy were shaking and clinging to each other, Levy bawling loudly as she remembered who Cursed Phoenix was, and whispered the information to her shaking best friend, "L-Lulu...that guild is the leader of the group of guilds that have been...kidnapping people lately...the ones who took us...I...I had meant to tell you earlier but I got caught up in things but...they can track us down wherever we are, no matter where we are because of the marks on us." She coughed as she tried to catch her breath again and Natsu spun on Gajeel.

"You knew this? You didn't tell us!?"

"We were all distracted, I was trying to figure out how we could work and crap, you were there when the girls called us Salamander! They were scared! Then you two took off and Star Girl has developed all the stages of the mate bond so fast it's crazy, everything has been going a hundred miles a minute ever since we got them back, sorry that it wasn't the first thing on my mind when I've been thinkin' about everything!" Gajeel snapped at him and Natsu attacked right back.

"That was important though! We can't deal with their whole guild on our own! We should have known this as soon as you two knew!"

"Enough!" Lucy yelled and the still shaking Levy flinched a little, "Sorry Levy..." She turned her hard gaze on the boys and sighed, "I knew too Natsu and I didn't tell you I'm sorry. Too much has been happening, we just moved, our money is running out, we're training, Levy's learning a new magic, Natsu and I are going through changes, you and Levy are going through new things too...too much, there's just too much, we know now, we know that they also know where we live...we should...get ahold of Master Makarov and see if we can get some help. Just..." Now Lucy was crying as she clung to Levy, "Stop fighting you two please...it's...it's making me and Levy stressed."

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Both of them dropped to their knees each apologizing to their girlfriend over and over. They hadn't thought about that at all..."Luce...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make the attack worse..."

"It's okay Natsu, let's...just go to bed. I'll call Hibiki...we need to rest." Lucy mumbled it before standing up and help Levy over to Gajeel who picks her up and carries her off into the house whispering to her how sorry he was, before she started stumbling towards Natsu, but he was right there instantly, carrying her in the house as she called Hibiki and let him know about the situation, a sorrowful 'good night' comes from the worried Archive mage as she and Natsu arrive in their room and lay down for the night, nightmares plague Lucy all through the night.


	13. Iron Love, Levy's Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levy had almost been kidnapped again, everything was exploding in their faces, they had thought moving would make it easier but those damn marks! Levy's nightmares get so much worse and we discover who the fellow was who attacked them earlier in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning and Hallucinations. TwT I'm gonna end up ripping these two to bits before they get better.... 'XD
> 
> also randomly you ever re-read stuff and cringe as you notice all the grammar mistakes...? I'll have to fix them... (randomly I usually upload via mobile...so...ya know...Auto Correct is horrible I swear.)
> 
> I AM SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER HAS TAKEN FOREVER LIFE EXPLODED AND IM SO SORRY!!!

Levy tried to settle into the bed she shared with Gajeel, she curled into his side using her dragon as a makeshift pillow while she cried herself to sleep. She was under so much paranoia and stress she couldn't handle it all alone. Levy's mind should have been empty, unfortunately she remembered everything, how could she just try to forget? There was no way and as a result nightmares plague the poor blunette all through the night.

~~~

It's the same dirt floor she had slept on for days now, Jack Frost was there, he was always there and all he wanted to do was break Levy, she didn't ever know why but Jack had been in charge of her and Lucy, but the blonde didn't draw his attention like the tiny, petite, fragile hazel eyed angel that had screamed until her voice broke for a man named Gajeel. "He'll come save me! He...He always saves me!" She had screamed at him at the top of her lungs...and that was why he wanted her. She was special, fiery and stubborn and so confident that her knight in shining armor would come along and save her. She's read too many romance novels, that was Jack's first immediate thought, the next one was time to teach her how real life works or life around him worked anyway.

"Bring her to my lab would you?" He said it offhandedly not looking at who he had spoken to, that person didn't matter anyway, he wasn't one of the five in Cursed Phoenix, so if he wanted to he could take that man's life and use him as a puppet. He heard her, the small woman whom the other man dragged behind him, he didn't even bother to pick her up, just drug her across dirt and stone, she yelled and struggled, screamed and flailed, but never did she cry. Oh she didn't, not until she was within Jack's lab, filled with ice and tubes that had rotten corpses floating inside of them, his hands itched to tear her skin apart and sew it back together while she was still alive, to take her life, preserve her, and then control her. Instead he decided to torture her, at least for now, break her, remake her, then keep her, he shivered at the thought and fear ran through Levy like ice in her veins.

She was strapped to a chair, scrapes and bruises all over her hips and legs, her dress torn but mostly intact and her head band was pulled from her hair letting the bangs fall into her face softly. Fear kept her voice silent, she had pushed too far and now she knew, she knew what he was going to do, sensed it with every touch of his icy hand on her pale skin, she knew it! She reminds herself to be strong, no matter the cost and somehow glares daggers at her captor, Jack Frost, psychotic and dangerous, a Necromancer who enhanced his ghouls with ice, she knew who he was now, she hadn't back then when this happened the first time. "What's wrong little Levy? You haven't spoken a word and only glare at me, it hurts my feelings you know!"

"Fuck off," the words spilled from her mouth before she could even think to stop them and knew what was next. A nail is placed against her fingernail, a hammer in Jack's hand, then a slam as the nail is slammed down into her finger tip and through the nail, pain lances through her hand and she screamed, this was the worst nightmare, and there was a deep disconnect as she saw her dream play out, that was Levy in the past but she remembered the pain with crystal clarity and was back in her own body feeling it all over again.

"Let's try that again now miss...a civilized conversation requires the other party to not be so rude, I have questions for you. About your guild, the magic artifacts we know that your guild possesses...you're the smartest one, so maybe you know. Originally the plan was to only kidnap little Lady Lucy Heartfillia, but then you came along! It was a wonderful encounter, so what d'ya say? Where do you keep the Black Tome?" He asked sounding for all the world like a patient man, even though he wasn't at all so when stubbornness took over another of her nails was destroyed, her pinky this time and she cried out with the pain. "Conversation dear!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She didn't want this pain, no more, she hated it! Let me out of this nightmare please! Her voice echoes into the darkness of her nightmare and it only got worse. Repeated and repeated, until all ten of her fingers were destroyed, but that bastard...he had a type of restoration magic and pulled the nails out, restored her fingers, and repeated the process. "I don't know anything about the book your looking for...!" She sobbed, wanted to escape, this was too much, but she had somehow stayed sane, because his torture was a regular thing for Levy in his 'care', and she had this habit of taking all the blame for things Lucy did, now Levy knew why, he had told her a few days before she escaped why, because she was 'special'. In truth be just wanted to tear her apart and told her in graphic detail how he wanted to break her, how he wanted to carve skin from her and replace it with some of his ghouls more disgusting flesh, to rebuild her as his doll.

Her fear worsened though when cold hands brought a knife near her cheek and closer to her eye, he had been threatening to take an eye or some skin for awhile now, so Levy was inclined to believe he would do it this time, though in the back of her mind she knew better, still this time, it was a nightmare, the blade plunged into her eye and she launched awake screaming and panicking, kicking and flailing she felt hands touch her and hit whoever dared to grab for her, full force and bolted off to a corner breathing heavily, but all she could see was corpses and ice and she felt cold. Her poor hazel eyes were glossed over and when someone tried to grab her again she whimpered and cried, "Don't touch me...!" Her voice was broken and she curled in on herself more.

"Levy...hey look at me! Levy!" He called to her, but she didn't seem to hear his voice only flinched and wrapped her arms more tightly around herself, she didn't see him, he knew it the moment her eyes had opened, she wasn't there with him, how the hell did he get through to her? He blinks and focuses on her reaching out, ignoring the knocking on the door, and the voices that leak through it. Levy, answer me! He tried to call out to her in his mind, their connection had to mean something, it just had to. Come on bookworm...look at me. Thought nearly like a prayer his eyes water, he still didn't know everything and that bastard from before nearly took her from him again, good god he was pathetic. He started beating himself up over it and through the connection they had his feelings got to Levy.

Where was she...? Someone's voice had been in her head, she could sense their emotions, they were not okay, they were tearing themselves apart. Something in her clicked together, this person was important to her, he was feeling awful, still she wasn't completely out of her own head but the fact that someone needed her pulled her back, enough that her small shaky hand reached out and brushed his cheek. His name came back and she whispered quietly, "Gajeel...are...you're not okay...quit...beating yourself up please...? It's...not your fault."

The crimson eyed man blinked his tears away, he hadn't meant to start crying, but damn if her hands weren't cold...but they comforted him, fingers lightly brushing a tear away, he laughed at himself and gently took her hand sighing to himself, "You ain't got any reason to try an' make me feel better Shrimp...I could sense the chaos in your head the moment you were asleep...but I couldn't get you to wake up...Levy...I don't...I don't know what to do, I wish there was some way I could help ya more." He squeezed her hand and taking a deep breath he pulled her against his warm chest, she was so cold and that freaked Gajeel out, but he didn't let it deter him, arms wrapped tight around her and even when she tensed up and tried to push away he didn't let her. "Sorry Shrimp...I'm not lettin' you go...not ever again!"

Levy's eyes flickered a bit as fresh tears started falling down her face and she broke down sobbing, something she had held in since she had arrived home, "T-That man...! He...He did horrible things to me Gajeel! He's the...he's the one who tore up my hands you saw his magic he's a necromancer but he...he's psychotic...he can...." She cringed and whimpered clinging to him as she told him everything, all about her nightmare, every graphic detail that he had threatened her with and how terrified she was of him, "I...I need to get over it but I can't! How can I face someone like that Gajeel?!" She clung to her now shaking slayer while waves of blood lust came off him, so much so that even Lucy could sense them...she and Natsu had also heard every word and were both almost equally as angry, Levy never told Lucy why she always took blame...but now Lucy knew...Levy had done it to protect her from that psycho.

Gajeel was a serious mix of emotions right then, he wanted to pick up that guys scent and hunt him down to kill him...but he couldn't leave Levy but he couldn't make Levy face that crazy man again. "Natsu..." He said it quietly and then spoke softly, knowing that Natsu would hear, "We need information on these guys...go ask Hibiki if he can find anything about Cursed Phoenix, we need to rip that place apart." He heard an answering growl, then two pair of steps stomping downstairs to go visit the Archive mage. "Levy, hey...let's go downstairs...you shouldn't stay cooped up in this room."

"No! I...I...feel safe here...safest here...it's dark and quiet and...you're here..." She whimpers a bit and he sighs, tough love time, this room wouldn't help her at all, without asking he scooped her up and carted her towards the door but she starts to panic, "G-Gajeel...! I said I don't want to...I don't want to leave this space let me calm down first!" She squealed but he simply ignored her plea and took her into the bathroom next to their room. "W-What are we in here for?"

"Well...ya stink..." Her jaw dropped at the insult and instantly she wanted to smack him for the comment but he continued speaking just before she smacked him, "You smell of chill and corpses and fear and pain and I don't like it. So clean up a bit, maybe a hot relaxing bath will calm you down..." He blushed dark red for a moment and glanced at her, "Also I'm not going anywhere so..." She turned red at the thought but squeaked and hid her face in his shirt, a timid thought crossing his mind from her, okay but...you can't look. "I won't look if you don't want me to, but if its about the scars on you...well...I don' really care. I have a ton Shrimp."

"Yeah well...I still...this scar is painful for me...okay? Besides..." She turned a darker red, "I'm taking a bath and I won't have anything to block your view so just...no." Her cheeks puffed out slightly as she turns away from him and wiggles out of his arms. "Turn around and close your eyes, and know I can sense it if you try and turn." She sighs when he does as she asks and takes off the sweat soaked pajamas she had been wearing, letting her mind drift to her books, trying to focus on their stories to calm down her reality. With eyes still glassed over a bit she turns the hot water on and runs a bath before sliding down into the water and sighing softly then pulling the curtain closed around her. "You can turn around now, I'm in the bath and the curtain is pulled around."

"Right...hey...yer...gonna be okay right? You can get through this, yer not alone ya know. I'm here and Lucy and Natsu are too...we'll support you through this...I swear, I...I may be overprotective for awhile...but...No one is ever gonna get close to taking you away from me again. Ya got it Shrimp?" He was rambling and he knew it but he just...he just wanted to get her mind off of everything else, he just wanted to see her bright smile again, she hadn't smiled from the heart since she came home. "Hey I know. Want me to sing for ya? I bet I can do something good...maybe..." The last part was mumbled but he heard her affirmative 'mm' a simple sound but he knew it, it meant go ahead. Taking a deep breath he dug around in his head, vaguely recalling a song from his childhood that a woman had sung for him a long long time ago, though he couldn't remember what she looked like, he remembered her song, adjusted the notes in his head and started humming before starting in on the lyrics. "Waves sound against the cliff, soft and soothing, kind and calm, echoing through this house, that looks out over a great blue ocean. They're all you hear, and they bring peace when chaos is near..." He keeps humming unable to remember all the words but his ears pick up Levy's soft giggle making his heart flutter in his chest a bit, it was cute.

"Oh? I'm cute? You admit it finally. I'm happy." Levy speaks softly as she splashes the hot water onto her face and shoulders nearly purring in satisfaction while the uneasiness slowly leaves her body. She was here, with Gajeel, where she belonged, why was she so afraid when he would always come save her? Even more than that she was getting stronger under the tutelage of several people. As of something clicks together she gasps softly, eyes widening, finding some semblance of peace she notices the hovering blue screen in front of her, what she'd been struggling to activate the night before now simply answered her. Before she knew what she was doing her hands flew up and the keyboard appeared, with deft and quick fingers she typed.

"Shrimp? What's that sound? Hey you okay?" Gajeel's voice went in one ear and out the other as she continued digging around for any important information. Anything at all! So she types in 'Jack Frost' and gets several hits. As she goes through the awful images her stomach begins to churn but she has to try doesn't she? Reading quickly she spots what might be a clue. "Hey! Shrimp answer me!"

"Two years ago a murderer calling himself Jack Frost was captured and detained, interrogation only led to him rambling about a dark guild known as Cursed Phoenix, he gave nothing important away just spoke of returning soon or his 'Queen' would end him, though it wasn't entirely pointless, one of the things he said was 'I need to return to the mountains...' But authorities didn't have enough time or manpower to check all the mountains so the guild went largely unfound and a month later Jack Frost escaped his cell and no one has found him since." Levy read clearly and aloud letting Gajeel hear everything. They had a clue, the mountains around Fiore. That was a lot of places and a whole lot more time needed to find them, but when they were ready...they would need to ask Fairy Tail for help, not yet, it was still too soon, but in time, Levy and Lucy would be ready to fight back.

Gajeel had sensed her determination through their bond and felt something warm rise in his chest. A feeling of being complete, of some sort of peace, would she be able to sleep properly now? Would the nightmares start fading finally? He smiled to himself before leaning in a bit and placing his head down on the side of the tub not looking at Levy, but wanting to surround himself with her books and blueberry vanilla ice cream smell. As he rested there he felt a damp hand comb through his unmanageable black hair and instinctively started to purr, she gently scratched his scalp and it just helped him relax. He needed it as much as she had, feeling worthless and like a failure had shot his confidence a bit; though he'd never vocally admit that. "Hey Levy...I love you, I won't ever leave your side again. So...hang onto me when ya need someone, yer life means everything to me, everything about you means everything to me...so rely on me a bit more, would ya?" His ears turned red as he spoke, he would make it up to her, everything he's ever done wrong he would make up to her!

In a bit of shock she stared at him, through him straight to his heart, "Okay, I will...from now on but you have to lean on me sometimes too, it's only fair. Um...I love you, more than books at least." She teased him laughing loudly when he jerked his head up to stare at her incredulously, she didn't mind and leaned forward a bit, pressing a kiss to his lips softly. "I'm teasing...mm...thank you Gajeel. You're pretty much my entire world now."

The red faced man pouted, puffed up his cheeks and crossed his arms looking away from the girl he was lucky enough to find. "Ain't funny ya mean ass shorty...when did you learn how to be nasty anyway?"

"I wonder who I could have learned that from...?" She grinned knowing exactly where she got it from.

"Hmph whatever I didn't teach ya that! Since you're so mean I'm not gonna give you your present anymore."

Her eyes lit up and she splashed him on accident with how she leaned towards him, her small perky breasts pressing against the side of the tub he was just laying on, "A present?" She asked while Gajeel desperately tried not to stare at her too openly. "Aww come on...I'm sorry love! Please...can I have it? I've got something for you too!"

Now his interest was peeked but he sighed, ignoring the wetness on his pajama pants; he never did wear a shirt to bed, he glances at her and grumbles before getting up. "I'll be right back." Without a word he goes back to thier room and opens the drawer on his side of the bed pulling a small bag from it. He returns fairly quickly to see her still sitting like she was with a patient look on her face and those lit up hazel eyes of hers then he passes her the bag. "Here...I made it for you."

Levy blinks a little bit before opening the small leather bag and dumping its contents into her wet hand. It was a small bar of some kind, with two small dragons screwed into either end. It took her a moment to realize what it was but once she did she gasped a bit, "This is an industrial...but...how did you know I'd been thinking about getting one even? That was before we disappeared!"

"I heard ya talking to Lucy about it...asking about her ears and describing what you wanted so she could tell you what it was called. Dragon slayer hearing Shrimp. Do you like it...? I know I may not look it but I'm good with piercings and stuff so if you want one...I can do it." He blushed rubbing the back of his head and looking away, piercings were his hobby and not one he told everyone he could do.

"Please! Can you do it now? After that I'll give you yours!" She seemed ecstatic about the idea and quickly finished with her bath.

"Wait you seriously wanna do it now?" He stared at her once more startled about how keen on the idea she was, he had heard her say she wanted one, but this much? "I mean..I can do it...it'll hurt a bit though, industrials take awhile to heal, you'll have to follow my instructions on taking care of it."

She nodded enthusiastically and smiled sweetly at him. He sighed, and rubbed the back of his head while waiting for her to get dressed, once she was he grabbed her hand and pulled her downstairs. "Hey, Gajeel what are you doing?"

"I need good light and you're going to want Lucy for moral support, and I need a chair that can move a bit, because you'll need to lay back. It's magic but still it's piercing the body, so I need a proper set up..." He rubbed his chin wondering why she wanted it now though he wasn't going to question it.

Once downstairs they called for Lucy who peeked around the corner with her head tilted, "You doing better now Levy? We've got Hibiki here and he's been waiting to talk to you..." The blonde blinks a bit before noticing the small metal bar in Levy's hand. "Hey where did you get that?"

"Gajeel made it for me, and he's going to put it in! Apparently he's good at piercings and I've wanted one so why not get the guy I trust most to do it? Besides he made it for me it'd be a waste not to wear it...and even if we're separated I'll know he's with me. So he's going to do it but he suggested I get you for moral support." Levy grins while she explains before taking Lucy's hand and using her script magic to make a chair that looks like it could spin and is laid back but just enough to where he can get a good view of her ear.

"W-Wait! You're seriously going to do this now? You were super upset 2 hours ago! Gajeel what'd you do to her?" Lucy blurted out while holding her best friends hand tightly.

"Hmph...I did what any good boyfriend oughta do. I helped her feel better...I think anyway..." He fumbled and rubbed his head again still not sure if he was the cause or if she was just strong on her own.

"Aww! Isn't he the cutest Lulu? He's better at making me feel better than he gives himself credit for. Now let's do this thing!" Levy was smiling, which caught Lucy slightly off guard before her expression softened and she rolled her eyes at the blunette.

"Fine fine. I'm glad you're feeling better." Lucy said with a smile of her own and squeezed her friends hand.

After that Levy sat on the chair leaning back as Gajeel set to work, it was quick, a hole there then one more then sliding the bar through the slightly bleeding ear a little cleaning later and voila, Levy had two small dragons holding the bar in place. "I'll help ya take care of it while it's healing shorty, but it'll take at least 3 months to heal fully." Smiling he sat down on the couch while Levy made the chair vanish.

"You were right to tell me to get Lulu it did hurt a bit...hmm..." Levy drifted off into thought for a moment before smiling suddenly. "You should open a piercing shop Gajeel, we can't do wizard work right now but we've all got skills...I can become a translator for awhile, combine Lucy and Natsu and they could cook...Lulu's cooking is actually really good, and you can help with that too. It'd be part time stuff but at least we could make a living until we go home."

Hibiki and Natsu had been fairly quiet while watching Gajeel do his work but now that it was done Hibiki started talking, "Not a bad idea since you guys aren't part of a guild right now...you could also always join Sabertooth for awhile, so you can live in the city."

Everyone stared at Hibiki like he'd grown a second head, because that idea was...better than Levy's but at the same time that would be joining a rival guild...which could be very interesting. Natsu was the one who spoke up first, "Yeah...that's a pretty good idea, I'm sure they'd give us the time to train on our own too. I've actually been thinking about that a lot lately, we need to earn jewel to live...so we need work of some kind."

"Well, I'm fine with that." Lucy spoke up next leaving only Levy and Gajeel to make their answer.

The two looked at each other for awhile before nodding to one another, both answered together, in complete sync. "Yeah, let's see if we can join Sabertooth then. We need the work."

"Okay it's all settled then, let's go to Sabertooth today. After we talk to them we can go out and train, all right?" Natsu asked with a smile on his face while the others nodded and got ready to go, all of them were surprised this is what they decided to do but it made sense.

Smiling brightly at Gajeel, Levy took his hand and pressed close to him speaking softly, "When we get back I'll give you your present, okay? Remind me to tell everyone about Cursed Phoenix too." He simply nods at her as the five walk out the door, Hibiki hovering near Levy while he talks to her about Archive Magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long I'll try to update more regularly but I do these chapters on the fly and I didn't even expect the twist at the end of this one... ._.' It's just Hibiki jerked me towards it he just wouldn't agree with Levy's idea. Oh well the next stuff should be fun to write on!


End file.
